Kate Warner, pictured with husband Julian and daughter Mia, will shave off her hair this Saturday, 13 March in Warburton as part of this year’s World’s Greatest Shave event.
By Monique Ebrington
WARBURTON mother Kate Warner hopes to raise thousands of dollars this week, towards the invaluable services that the Leukaemia Foundation provides.
She will shave off her curly mop of hair from 2pm on Saturday, 13 March at Cafe Meccanica in Warburton for the World’s Greatest Shave event and in support of her three-year-old daughter Mia who was diagnosed with leukaemia last year.
Kate clearly recalls the mixed emotions of relief and horror that she felt when Mia, then two-and-a-half, was diagnosed with the blood disease on 25 April last year.
“She was getting many different viruses, one after the other,” Kate Warner said.
“She was sick and stopped eating for months, so we could visibly see the weight coming off her.”
She said that despite a gut instinct that something greater than a ‘common cold’ was wrong with her daughter, a series of misdiagnoses meant Mia was sick for months before she was diagnosed.
“We knew for a long time that this was not a normal child getting sick, and getting over it,” she said.
“It was a hard cycle. You would believe within yourself that something was truly wrong, and then speak to a professional who would tell you that nothing was wrong.
“Then you’d believe the professional, second-guess yourself and then the process would start again.”
She said when Mia was finally diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia she had no healthy blood cells left in her body.
“Under the microscope you could see that every cell in her body was cancerous,” she said.
“There were no healthy cells left, so she was incredibly sick by that stage.”
Kate said that following Mia’s diagnosis the treatment started very ‘quickly’, however, the treatment was a long process and required her to live at the Monash Medical Centre for more than four months during Mia’s treatment.
“It was very hard to be separated from the rest of the family, from my husband and five-year-old son,” she said.
Kate said, despite Mia’s young age, she and husband Julian were very proud of Mia’s attitude towards her diagnosis and treatment.
“I think what’s truly amazing about our three-year-old is that she’s accepted this.”
For more information on the World’s Greatest Shave or to donate online to the Meccanica team visit www.worldsgreatestshave.com.au .
WOORI Yallock resident Brad Bird will also bravely shave off his hair and goatee, which has been a part of his persona for 13 years, for this year’s World’s Greatest Shave event.
He, and fellow team members will be shaving their heads in support of his two-year-old son Douglas Bird.
The ‘Dougzilla’ team aim to raise $8000 for the Leukaemia Foundation through their Greatest Shave event that will be held from 9.30am to noon on Saturday, 13 March beside the Foodworks in Woori Yallock.
Dougzilla team members will have their heads shaved at 11am and there will also be a sausage sizzle fund-raiser for anyone who wants to come up and watch or donate.
To donate online to the Dougzilla team please visit www.worldsgreatestshave.com.au .
