Double head shave for our brother

Harlem, 4, laughed as the clippers tickled his head. PHOTOS/JADE CVETKOV

HAYLEY GASTMEIER
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Two young Masterton boys have raised more than $2000 for a cancer charity in honour of their big brother.

Neither Kingzton, 6, or Harlem, 4, had cut their hair before having their heads shaved in front of a crowd on Saturday afternoon.

They opted for their new looks as part of the Shave for a Cure campaign, which raises money for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

The boys were doing it for their big brother, who did not want to be named and was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was four years old.

After three-and-a-half-years of treatment, he has now been four years in remission.

Claire Thomson, mother to the three boys, said it had been an emotional and challenging time.

“It’s your worst nightmare.”

And she says she only got through it with the help of charities like LBC, Ronald McDonald House, and the Child Cancer Foundation.

She said she was incredibly thankful she had her “three soldiers” and proud they had made such an incredible effort raising funds for a cause close to her family’s heart.

Kingzton, who ditched his dreadlocks, said it was “for my brother” and others who had suffered from cancer.

Harlem said his mum was going to keep his hair as a memory.

The boys started out with a goal of raising $500, but they soared past that in no time and their Shave for a Cure fundraising page now exceeds $1600.

They had also raised more than $700 in cash, with most of that being given by parents who had children attending the same schools and kindy as the Thomson boys.

Their grandmother, Pam Dick, hosted the shave at Dish Cafe, which she co-owns with her sisters.

She said it had been “devastating” learning of her grandson’s illness.

“But we’ve come through it.”

Now it was about turning the experience into something positive by helping others, Pam said.