Elyse Bryson took a seat at a pub in Buckhead where a corner of the restaurant was turned into a makeshift hair salon with only one purpose: shaving heads. With a crowd cheering, Bryson smiled as her pretty, silky light brown hair fell onto the floor, one clump after another until her head was smoothly and completely shaven.
Bryson, who is a physician assistant at Aflac Cancer Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, was one of several people who went bald to raise money for childhood cancer research. She and a handful of other staff members at CHOA raised closed to $40,000 in the fundraising effort with St. Baldrick's Foundation, a California-based charity known for its signature head-shaving events to raise funds for childhood cancer research.
“I feel awesome,” said Bryson after getting her head shaved. Friday marked the second time Bryson, who is 42, participated in the head-shaving fundraiser.
“Patients loved it and I think it’s great we look like them and not be ashamed of being bald,” said Bryson.
She admitted it took some getting used to not having hair a couple years ago when she had her head shaved but she realized, “hair is not so important and beauty is what you are on the inside.” Meanwhile, her husband supported her decision to shave her head, and she added, “he thinks I look great bald.”
All told, more than 35 people had their heads shaved (and included a team of 12 from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta). The pub was packed with supporters, including Monica Sandoval, 21, who had recently experienced a recurrence of leukemia.
“It shows how much they really love us,” said Sandoval. “And it’s not just a job.”
She was thrilled to see Dr. Frank Keller, an oncologist at CHOA, at the event to volunteer to get all of his curls shaved off in a show of solidarity. She gave him a beige cap she recently crocheted for him.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has received about $2.7 million for research grants from the organization since 2005. Last year, St. Baldrick's awarded The Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta an infrastructure grant to make more clinical trials available to their patients, as well as a research grant to support the work of Muxiang Zhou, M.D., a researcher at Emory University.
Close to half of St. Baldrick's events happen right around St. Patrick's Day. In metro Atlanta, 18 events are registered in metro Atlanta this year with about 400 people signing up to get their heads shave for the cause. These 18 events are also expected to raise about $400,000.
Tammy Kelley, clinical operations manager at CHOA's Aflac cancer center, said she decided to get her head shaved this year, only a few months after the death of her husband.
“I wanted to do something to challenge myself and to help others,” said Kelley who is 48.
Kelley, who volunteered to have her pretty, thick brunette hair be shaved, had no plans of covering her head.
“My plan is to rock it,” she said about being bald.
Since 2005, St. Baldrick's has granted more than $200 million to support the development of childhood cancer treatments.
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