On March 6, 2015, a brave Madeline (Maddy) McIlwrick went into Malek’s Barbershop with a full head of long brunette hair and came out bald as a bowling ball. No, this was not a haircut gone wrong but rather a conscious, selfless decision of a remarkable young girl.
Ten year old Maddy and grade 4 student at Rainbow Creek Elementary had told her mom that for her birthday this year she wanted to shave her head and donate the hair to make wigs for those that have lost their hair due to cancer. Her choice to do this came from watching both of her grandfathers’ deal with cancer. The hair was put into eight ponytails and one by one, cut from her head before the shaving began. The hair is being sent to Pantene Beautiful Lengths in Mississauga, Ontario. Maddy and her parents will be going to the local office of the Canadian Cancer Society on March 9th so she can drop off her hair herself and they will forward on her behalf.
When asked how she liked her new bald head, Maddy’s mom, Loreen McIlwrick, said “She loves it! She said that she still feels pretty. She has been planning this for months and she honestly was so excited for this day to come! She woke up that morning and said ‘Today’s the day, I’m going bald.'”.
Her proud mom went on to say, “We are extremely proud of her! She is a very strong and confident young woman! I tried a few times to talk her out of going completely bald and told her that she had more than enough hair to donate and get a cute, short ‘pixie’ haircut! She flatly refused, no hesitation… When I set up her fundraising page with the Canadian Cancer Society, they ask you what your goal is. I had no idea what amount of money could be raised so I set it at $500.00, feeling optimistic that this goal could be achieved. However, we were blown away by the amazing support of this community, our coworkers, friends and family. At this point Maddy has raised close to $2000.00 and it still continues to grow! We would like to acknowledge Malek’s too, they were so good with Maddy!”
It just goes to show that amazing things can be done from even the youngest of our community! Great job Maddy!!
