Nineyearold Stephanie Smith had her blond locks cut to a number two crewcut in honour of her grandfather, Graeme McIntyre, who is battling leukaemia.
By Elizabeth Lillis
NINEyearold Bunyip girl Stephanie Smith has bravely had her long hair cut off to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation.
Inspired by her grandfather’s fight with the disease, Stephanie raised approximately $1800 for the charity by having her hair cut to a number two crewcut in front of a gathering of 100 family and friends on Saturday, 17 March.
Stephanie was keen to “be brave” and shear her locks in honour of her grandfather Graeme McIntyre who has leukaemia.
Her mother, Maree, said Stephanie had wanted to participate in the Shave for a Cure last year but her parents advised her to think about why she was doing it before deciding to join in this year.
Stephanie and her sister Chantelle prepared a flyer to notify family friends of the shave event and sausage sizzle, which was held in the Smith family’s backyard.
“I wanted to do it for Grandpa,” Stephanie said.
Mr McIntyre has chronic lymphatic leukaemia and receives treatment for the disease once a month.
Stephanie said she had no regrets about having her hair cut off.
“Along with Grandpa, there are a lot of other sufferers as well as the fortunate that have been able to escape this dreadful disease,” she said.
Mrs Smith said Stephanie liked having long hair but was very keen to support the cause.
“We had support from the Garfield Berry Farm, John Hayden who provided the sausages, South Gippsland traders gave us eight litres of tomato sauce and Accredited who gave us some chocolate frogs for the shave party,” she said.
Mrs Smith said she was surprised by the generosity of family and friends towards Stephanie’s efforts for the charity.
“She has just had small donations coming in from people and it all adds up,” she said.
