Close shave for octogenarian

Winnie Paap - after

When Winnie Paap sets her mind to it, she'll deliver.

Yesterday, in what has to be some sort of record, the 86-year-old Wanganui rest home resident got her head shaved, all in the name of fundraising for breast cancer.

Winnie Paap - before

Mrs Paap said she was having the "ultimate" haircut because she had lost a lot of friends to cancer.

"It's a small price for me to pay," she said. She was hoping her actions might set a trend among other residents but there were no volunteers, at least not yesterday.

The Breast Cancer Foundation believes she is the oldest person to have her head shaved for its cause.

"They've all been saying how brave I am but it doesn't mean anything thing to me. This is about doing something that can hopefully help save the poor people with cancer."

Mrs Paap, born and bred at Utiku, south of Taihape, was well prepared for life with no hair. She's got several beanies already knitted to keep her head warm and, in keeping with the breast cancer theme, every one of them is a shade of pink.

She made up her mind 12 months ago when those in the home and raised money for breast cancer.

"Afterwards we were talking about and I thought, right, next year I'm having my hair off. My biggest worry was I wouldn't be alive to see it through," she said with a laugh. Some of her family and friends were on hand to support her.

So far Mrs Paap's sacrifice has raised a bit more than $3000, with $2499 of that gathered from the Taihape area and the rest home residents collecting another $450.