When nine-year-old Marlee Pack returned to school with a shaved head after 40 weeks of chemotherapy she thought people would make fun of her. Instead she said, "people just supported me."
Pack's best friend, Cameron McLaughlin, initially planned to donate some of her hair but decided it wasn't enough, opting to shave her head in honour of her friend's return to school.
But she didn't stop there.
With the help of McLaughlin's teacher, Jody Hempelmann, they organised a school fundraiser at Meridian Elementary School, called Be Bold, Be Brave, Go Bald. And on March 16, 80 students, three teachers and both principals shaved their hair.
Pack was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma a year ago when her mother, Shelly Pack, spotted a bump on her daughter's foot that wouldn't go away. As well as chemotherapy, Pack had to have her foot amputated.
"When Cameron told Marlee she was thinking about shaving her head, Marlee got a huge smile on her face and said 'we can be baldy besties together!'" Cameron's mum, Cheray McLaughlin, told Today.
Taking the stage in front of the school, Pack held McLaughlin's hand while a hairdresser shaved her head.
"I told her that I cried when I did it, but she didn't. She was brave," Pack told the Broomfield Enterprise.
"I thought people would make fun of me but people just supported me instead," she added.
The school raised over $25,000, with all proceeds going to St. Baldrick's Foundation.
"She's been through so much in the past year, I think she just faces life head on now," Shelly Pack said. "This event only made her even more outgoing, confident and happy and as her mum, it's refreshing to see."
"I didn't think that many people would shave their heads," said Pack, "But I feel good about going back to school and not being the only bald one."
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