 |
|
|
|
|
  
|
Twelve bare it all for cancer Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison Northern News Services Published Monday, March 12, 2012
The event, organized by student council members at Mackenzie Mountain School, was the first of its kind in the community. Sarah Rose, a Grade 12 student who co-ordinated the event, said the motivation to plan a Top it Off hair auction came from the sudden death of her grandfather on Feb. 3. "If what we raised this year could help one family next year not go through what we went through, it was worth raising the money for," she said. Rose's grandfather Ed Duncan was just 71 years old when he died. Doctors say he likely went undiagnosed - first for bowel or colon cancer, and later for cancer in his surrounding tissue and blood - over the course of six years. He was eventually admitted to the hospital after Christmas. "We'd seen him over the years getting sicker, and he was one of those old times guys where it was, 'No, I'm fine. I don't have to go to the doctor. There's nothing wrong.' He was kind of almost in denial about it, and then just before Christmas his doctor said, 'You know what? We're admitting you to the hospital,' and he said, 'No, I will go after Christmas,'" Rose recalled. "He didn't want Grandma to be alone. He didn't want her to remember him in the hospital on Christmas." Sixteen days after his death, the gymnasium at Mackenzie Mountain School was packed and, despite taking so little time to plan the event, it went off without a hitch. Aaron Cote, a Norman Wells resident and registered auctioneer, volunteered to auction each participant's hair. Bids ranged from $50 to $170 and when he yelled "Sold!" the razors came out. By the end of the night, participants ranging in age from 14 to 70 had chopped their locks off for cancer. Student council supervisor Devin Roberts called Rose "courageous" for her leadership in planning the event. "She has become a real inspiration to the entire community in Norman Wells," he said. The Alberta/NWT division of the Canadian Cancer Society assisted student council with the event, sending letters to community members and local businesses, and donating prizes for participants. "It's the average person who just wants to do something," said Lorna Deveau, revenue development and volunteer resources co-ordinator for the society. Over the past five years, NWT residents have raised nearly $2.3 million for the Canadian Cancer Society. In 2010, the funds provided approximately 7,000 people living with cancer in Alberta and the NWT with emotional, practical and financial support. The funds raised by Rose and the student council at Mackenzie Mountain School will go toward services in Alberta and the NWT, as well as help fund cancer research efforts across Canada.
|
