Mandurah woman Carley White said a friend battling cancer was all the motivation she needed to spearhead a fundraising drive and be a part of the World’s Greatest Shave on Saturday.
Ms White, who works at the Esther Foundation, found out her friend Evelyn was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma two months ago.
The diagnosis led to Evelyn undergoing chemotherapy, which prompted Ms White to shave her head in a fundraising drive.
“Evelyn was losing her hair because of the chemo so she asked me shave her head for her, which made me want to do the fundraising and shave my head for her as well,” she said.
“I’ve always wanted to do it but now I had a reason that really hit home for me.
“It’s not a huge gesture but I really wanted to do something that might make a difference.”
In total, Ms White raised $2,500 in just under three weeks of fundraising. That teamed with the extra $500 her father Michael raised on the day to join in on the shave.
She said the community’s support had blown her away.
“Everyone was really generous and it was great to see the donations coming from a number of different places,” she said.
“It meant a lot to all of us and now we can give something of worth to the cause.”
Ms White said she was nervous to see the final product, but proud of the achievement she had made.
“It was pretty scary sitting in the chair as they started shaving all of my hair off, that’s when I got a little nervous,” she said.
“But it was a really motivating thing to do and it makes you feel really liberated – I feel really proud that I was able to help in some way.”
All the money raised will go directly to researching a cure for Ewing’s Sarcoma.