Tina Traill’s bald and beautiful mission supports Cansa for 10 years
She took a courageous step after her husband convinced her to shave her head in memory of loved ones lost to cancer and in support of Cansa. She did it again this year.
Tina Traill and her Hair’s Angels team hosted their 10th annual Shavathon event in Fourways, raising vital funds for the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa).
To celebrate Traill’s 60th birthday, the team pulled out all the stops, hosting an impressive 300 participants at WhatTheFit4 gym premises on March 8.
This year’s event aimed to far exceed the impressive R66 000 raised a decade ago when the first Shavathon event hosted 200 people. The ‘Fearless Hair to Show you Care’ event held on March 8 was a resounding success, bringing together the community to support a worthy cause.
@caxtonjoburgnorth Fourways community shaved their heads for a good cause. #cansa #shavathon ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
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Traill was on of the many who shaved their hair on the day and has been doing it for 10 years.
She said with the support of her husband, she was able to get the courage to shave it for the first time. “He said, ‘Why don’t we show women that they can be beautiful without their hair? They don’t always have to wear a wig. If they’ve lost their hair through chemo or alopecia, why not just show them that they can embrace their baldness? That you can walk around and still be beautiful and still be loved.’”
Traill is no stranger to cutting people’s hair. “I cut people’s ponytails often. We take the long hair and donate it to the wigmakers of the Shaveathon team. They sew the hair into a skull cap and sew it in layers before it goes to a stylist who can cut it for the person who would like a wig and they walk out with a beautiful hairstyle.”
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Traill has had her fair share of dealing with cancer. “My mom had throat cancer, and my grandfather had pancreatic cancer. I’ve also lost a very close friend in the last few weeks to brain cancer. I have clients who are undergoing breast cancer and testicular cancer.”
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Her advice to cancer patients is, “Don’t do the journey alone. Don’t become too insular, find people. Find a supportive community who are gonna hold the space for you, somewhere where you can cry, laugh, and let out your anger… Tell people what’s going on when somebody asks you what you need because people will always say, oh, I’m so sorry, what can I do?”
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