Naomi Piper sat with a smile on her face as a razor zipped through her full head of strawberry-blonde hair, causing clumps to fall to the floor. The haircut lasted less than five minutes and left her completely bald.
With an audience of about 30 people, Piper was the first visitor to the makeshift barbershop in a conference room at Shands Children's Hospital.
After hearing about the event at the Children's Miracle Network auction on Oct. 28, Piper decided to participate and shave her head for cancer.
"It feels weird but in a good way," Piper said, running her fingers over her bald head. "Besides, hair grows back."
On Friday afternoon, doctors, nurses, patients and families of patients gathered in the pediatric wing of Shands at UF to raise money for cancer research through pledges for shaving their heads.
Piper, who shaved her head for her son Joejoe Piper, a patient at Shands who suffers from a kidney condition, was one of eight people who shaved their heads for the cause. The event was organized by Dr. Bill Slayton, interim division chief and program director of pediatric hematology/oncology. It was the first of its kind, Slayton said.
"It's beyond my wildest dream," said Slayton, who also shaved his hair for the event. "We passed our goal of raising $5,000."
According to Slayton, the main goal of the event was to raise awareness and encourage people to donate to enhance the Immunocompromised Unit for children with cancer.
Storm Roberts, a KTK morning radio show host who regularly shaves his head for cancer awareness, also took part in the event Friday.
"My wife kissed my hair goodbye before I left this morning," Roberts said as his hair was being shaved.
Also among the participants was Dr. Vishwas Sakhalkar, director of Benign Hematology at Shands.
"It's emotional for me," Sakhalkar said. "In my culture, you shave only after your parents die. I called my parents beforehand."
Aside from offering their hair, the doctors also offered advice to parents whose children are suffering from cancer.
"Parents tend to blame themselves when their child gets cancer," Dunbar said. "It's not your fault."
