Carolina van Rooyen shaved her head for cancer. Photos / Supplied
When I was 9 years old I was a fat kid.
A fat kid who wore red speedos. A fat kid who wore red speedos and had not only an undercut, but a bowl cut under cut! I also wasn't a fan of showering.
I was a sight to behold. The fat, smelly kid.
Mum still says I was a 'lovely boy'.
Which is her way of getting around the fact I wasn't a pleasure to view.
Here's what I was NOT at 9 years old:
Female.
Courageous.
Bubbly (unless it was feeding time or I was in the general vicinity of a pie).
Conscious of the world around me, let alone the struggles of others.
Forward thinking.
An example of a good human to those around me (no matter their age).
Bald (I'm sure that's coming for me).
All of those things on that list are what I was presented with last week in the form of a 9-year-old girl named Carolina van Rooyen.
She goes to Welcome Bay Primary and she completely shaved her head of beautiful long blonde hair, in public. She did it as part of Shave for a Cure, raising money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand. She raised $1400. What a legend.
She decided to do it because she doesn't like the thought of someone going through that and that kids get cancer too.
Yes, there were tears while it happened.
From the audience, from Carolina when her best friend turned up to surprise her while she was getting a bald noggin, and clearly from her parents.
All of whom were crying because they were immensely proud.
Farmers Bayfair organised the whole event and the heads were shaved by Shine Hair Co.
They raised about $4500 all up.
Farmers also gave Carolina a free makeover afterwards.
I love it when businesses in the Bay come together like that for a good cause. A cause that gets no government funding.
Two thousand two hundred people a year in New Zealand get diagnosed with blood cancer. That's six kids or adults a day! Why are our taxes not funding the fight against that? At least there's one little girl who's fighting against that for no other reason than "cos she can".
You made my week, Carolina.
Bret Easton Ellis and Linda Lovelace are some of the authors subject to restrictions.