Kids Cancer Care is proud to announce that 98.5 Virgin Radio will be the official radio sponsor of the Shave Your Lid for a Kid program! Virgin Radio and their team bring an enthusiasm that makes us SO fortunate to work with them. Stay tuned for social media shave announcements and on-air shave updates from the 98.5 Virgin Radio Street Team and to hear our new shave advertisements.
“It’s stories like Alex’s, featured in our new shave commercials, that make our team at Virgin Radio SO proud and excited to be part of Kids Cancer Care’s Shave a Lid for a Kid Campaign! We attended our first shave at Elboya School last April, and once the buzz from the clippers died down, 42 kids and seven teachers were rockin’ slick new do’s. Even more exciting is that they raised $57,000 to help send kids to camp and to fund life-saving research. The excitement in Elboya’s gym that day was contagious, with teachers and students decked out in crazy wigs in support of their friends taking the plunge and shaving their lids. We can’t wait to join the party!”–Cathy L’Henaff, Senior Writer and Fashion Blogger at 98.5 Virgin Radio
“CJAY 92, Classic Country AM 1060 and 98.5 Virgin Radio were so honoured to team with Kids Cancer Care over two years ago as friends, partners and fundraising champions. Our next challenge is to make the Shave Your Lid for a Kid program bigger, better and more successful than ever before. We look forward to meeting shave participants, celebrating survivors and helping victims of Childhood Cancer move forward with Hope.” Angie Beers, Creative and Production Director and Kids Cancer Care Liaison.
“My hands started to blister and I couldn’t even play my guitar, the thing I love most in the world.”—David Dallas
When Ringo Starr cried out, “I’ve got blisters on my fingers,” at the end of the Helter Skelter recording on the Beatle’s white album, his blisters were for entirely different reasons than David Dallas’ blisters. Apparently, Ringo played the drums so forcefully on this track, the only way out of the session, which had become an epic jam session, was to yell out in protest to his band mates.
If protesting against blisters had been a viable option for David, he surely would have protested, if only so he could play guitar again. But David’s blisters weren’t from playing a musical instrument for too long. His blisters were one of the side effects of the chemotherapy he was receiving to save his life.
David was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he was 12 years old. It started with severe stomach pain that wouldn’t go away. After several visits to the Alberta Children’s Hospital emergency centre, David received an ultrasound that revealed an 18-centimetre tumour. Over the next four months, David underwent intensive cancer treatment, which included chemotherapy by spinal tap to both his spine and brain.
What kept David going during this time was the support of his family and friends, the amazing nurses at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and, of course, his music. Isolated at the hospital and unable to play guitar, David’s only thought was the moment he would play again.
On the horizon for David was the fulfillment of a wish through the Children’s Wish Foundation. Unlike most kids, however, David’s wish wasn’t a trip to Disneyland. David had asked for music equipment and a Les Paul guitar, his Sadie, the guitar he still uses today.
And David is still holding on to that dream of making music, a dream that you are helping him realize through a Kids Cancer Care Derek Wandzura Memorial Scholarship.
When David auditioned for the jazz guitar program at the Mount Royal University Conservatory of Music, it was Sadie who saw him through the audition. Unfortunately, for David, the jazz program at Mount Royal was later cancelled due to funding constraints, so David used the scholarship to complete his first year of general studies to prepare for future studies in jazz music.
“The one thing I learned during my cancer experience was to not sweat the small stuff and to keep my eye on the big picture,” says David.
Like the 12-year-old boy, biding his time at the hospital, David is maintaining perspective, while waiting for a chance to formally study music and hone his skills as a jazz musician. He’s waiting for admission to the Berkley School of Music in Boston. Once again, it was Sadie who saw him through his audition at Berkley and, once again, when he is accepted, it will be Sadie he takes to Boston.
They were looking for a better life for their son when they moved to Canada—the land of ice hockey and subzero temperatures. They didn’t know the move would ultimately save his life and shape the path of his career.
Although he was only eight, Chaitanya remembers clearly the night he and his parents, Biren and Sohal Shah, arrived in Canada. “It was 30 degrees Celsius in Mumbai when we left and -30 in Calgary when we landed.”
Culture shock had nothing on the shock of that subzero weather. And yet, nothing would ever trump the shock of what was to come.
At the end of his grade-eight basketball season Chaitanya was coughing a lot and thought he may have a cold. A chest scan revealed masses in his chest, which the doctor thought may be pneumonia. But when a team of doctors descended upon the Shahs to discuss the results of the scan, Chaitanya knew it was something serious. He remembers thinking, “Why do they need a whole team for this?”
His instincts were right. It was stage 4 germ cell cancer, a highly aggressive cancer that demanded a lengthy and complex treatment protocol.
That night and the intense year that followed would determine the course of his life. Chaitanya is passionate about genetics and cancer and he is determined to be an oncologist one day. “I’m perfect for the position,” he jokes, “given my vast exposure to the profession.”
Even at 13, Chaitanya was thinking the way a doctor might. “There were multiple tumours all through my body,” he says. “There are many types of germ cell cancer but it was so advanced when we caught it that I had them all. I kept thinking ‘Did I miss something? Could I have caught this earlier?’”
As a biological sciences student at the University of Calgary, Chaitanya found an outlet for his passion and his inquisitive mind. With the help of a scholarship, made possible by you, Chaitanya graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences with honors in 2016.
His experience with cancer has taught him to take things in stride. “It’s given me a ferocious tenacity to go after what I want, but mostly it’s given me perspective. As stressful as it gets during exams, in the back of my mind, I go, ‘At least I don’t have cancer.’”
And the wry sense of humour? That’s quintessential Chaitanya—a quality that helped him during his cancer journey and that will one day serve him as an oncologist as he helps others facing cancer. Chaitanya started medical school in 2017 at the University of Calgary with plans to graduate in 2020.
Yesterday we released our brand new Shave Your Lid for a Kid video in front of hundreds of students at Nellie McClung School. The video stars students from Nellie McClung School and O.S. Geiger School, as they lose their locks for childhood cancer!
We created the video to revitalize the shave program and spread the message that KIDS CAN make a difference and that KIDS CAN beat cancer!
Watch the video here
HELP US spread the word! It only takes a second and it will cost you nothing. But it could change a child’s life forever. YOU CAN make a difference.
- Tweet this message on Twitter: If #kidscan, YOU can! Pls watch this video http://bit.ly/o4ITkN & RT. It could inspire others 2 help & change a child’s life; and
- Post this message on Facebook: With your help, KIDS CAN beat cancer. Please share this video and spread the word that YOU CAN be the difference. YOU CAN help a child with cancer today: http://www.kidscancercare.ab.ca/shave_your_lid_for_a_kid.htm.
Share the video with 5 people and someone may be inspired to shave their head for children with cancer. The money raised could send a child with cancer to camp.Share it with 100 people and 50 people may be inspired to help. The money they raise could help save a child’s life.
Thanks for your help,
Kids Cancer Care
PS. You can read about the video launch here:
On Saturday, January 7th, Giang will be locking her locks in support of childhood cancer at a fun and unqie event called The Mane Event. The Mane Event will take place at Toque International Lounge and will feature art, dance and hair! The event is open to the public and access is attained through a $15 donation at the door, going directly towards Kids Cancer Care. This is her story…
My name is Giang (pronounced Yan) and I am planning on shaving my head for cancer. Giving back to the community has always been an important aspect of my life; I love helping humanity! I enjoy keeping myself busy by being involved with projects. I have always wanted to give to organizations such as Kids Cancer Care; however, being a student does not ensure me extra luxuries. Many events these days involve running a marathon or biking, which I just have not been able to find the time to train hard for, but hopefully one day I will.
To be honest, the reason I decided to participant in the Shave Your Lid for a Kid Campaign was because someone commented on how nice my hair was and how much they wanted it. I had a “Victoria Beckham Bob” at the time, so about a year ago I decided to grow out my hair and decided that I wanted to shave it to make it into a wig for someone who truly deserves it.
I work with youth and they are very special to me. They bring so much joy to our lives and they are our future. It is heart-breaking to know that such young children are fighting every day for their lives. This is the reason I have chosen to support the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta and Angel Hair for Kids.
About four months ago, I was really nervous about shaving my hair off. I would go back and forth, questioning myself, “Should I go completely bald or should I just donate a minimum of 10 inches?” Finally, I thought to myself, “Might as well go big or go home.” I began to get very excited once I started planning for my head shaving event.
The purpose of the event is to raise awareness and proceeds for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation. My concept of the event was to have a Hair Show! I will be organizing an event that will be the first of its kind, where dance, art, music, and hair come together for one cause! It will be like a fashion show for hair! The underlining theme of the event is to embrace your life and that who you are makes you beautiful not your hair; that life is beautiful.
I am very excited to put on this event and I am so thankful to be part of this experience!
-Giang
