Brodie's big shave
At lunchtime on Monday a large crowd of students, family and friends packed the Nayland College school hall to support Year 12 student Brodie Seelen and 27 other staff and students who participated in 'Shave for a Cure,' raising over $25,000 for the Leukaemia & Blood Cancer Foundation
Earlier in the year we celebrated Brodie's big accomplishment in completing the Coast to Coast as the youngest competitor to finish the two day individual event. This week we celebrated his courage and determination to face his new challenge with the same extreme resilience and positivity.
Just two weeks after finishing the Coast to Coast, Brodie was given a cancer diagnosis which meant numerous tests and medical appointments over the past few months. The end result is that Brodie has been diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia, a very rare, life-threatening blood disease requiring chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in the next few weeks.
Although one round of chemotherapy is unlikely to make all of his hair fall out, Brodie chose to shave it all off for a good cause. 27 Nayland College staff and students decided to join him in the cause, raising over $24,000 to date as a team. Brodie himself has raised over $8000 so far and there was a further $1835.20 raised by students participating in a casual dress day on Monday in support of Brodie's cause.
Year 9 Cameron Greef was one of the students who supported the event by getting his head shaved. He wanted to show his support for people in his life who have been affected by illness.
“Me and my friends decided that it would be a good thing to do if we supported people with cancer and I know many people that have been affected by cancer, so I thought that it was my duty to shave my head in honour of them,” Cameron said.
He managed to raise $22 towards the cause and is slowly getting used to his new hairdo.
“It has been pretty interesting. It is not what I expected it to be, but it is definitely better than what it was when it was long,” he said.
If you wish to make a donation, click on the following links:
https://shaveforacure.co.nz/brodie-seelen
https://shaveforacure.co.nz/t/naylandcollegeschoolteam
Nelson Weekly Reporter and Photographer Jonty Dine was present at the big shave off and he took some fantastic photos which are featured on the Nelson App's recent Facebook post.
Stuff Reporter Tim O'Connell and Photographer Martin de Ruyter also covered the event:
Brodie isn't the only one preparing for surgery, his little brother Liam will be donating bone marrow from his hip to help save his brother's life. You can read more about that here: Nelson Weekly - Little brother's lifesaving gift
We wish Brodie, Liam and the family all the best for the journey ahead and look forward to seeing Brodie's smiling face around school again soon!