Local health district radiation therapist Mark Udovitch “hairlariously’’ re-created celebrity photos in an unusual way to raise money for cancer patients.
As a result of that cancer therapy awareness and fundraising effort, he was recently one of only 100 people from nine countries invited to attend The One Hundred Everyday Amazing Gala in America event.
“It was an incredible honour to go to the gala and to be acknowledged by the Massachusetts General Cancer Center on the world’s stage alongside caregivers, researchers, philanthropists, advocates and volunteers from around the globe,” Mr Udovitch said on his return.
“Despite travelling to the other side of the world, I felt like the most popular person in the room. Everyone wanted to hear my story and learn about how the Dry July Shave Off evolved into the viral phenomenon that it was,” he said.
Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre saw more than 85,000 people last year with one patient in particular inspiring Mr Udovitch to shave off his luscious locks.
“I remember a lady with breast cancer who was particularly distressed when she lost her hair after chemotherapy,’’ he says.
“She mentioned that she only had access to ill-fitting synthetic wigs so I decided to grow my hair and donate it to a wig library to benefit our patients.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the positive response we would get on social media, the cancer therapy community and from actual celebrities themselves including Ashton Kutcher, Kris Jenner and Hulk Hogan,” he said.[/social_quote]
“Cancer affects one in two Australians and half of all patients with cancer can benefit from radiotherapy – yet our profession is relatively unknown in the community.
“The Dry July Shave Off is a perfect example of thinking outside the box and I really hope that our story can inspire and support this way of thinking throughout the cancer therapy community in Australia and abroad.
“Although there are no sequels in the pipeline, our team are back at the drawing board to think of ways we can continue to engage the community and encourage support for our patients,” he said.
Visit https://www.dryjuly.com/beneficiaries/liverpoolcancertherapycentre to be sure to have your funds allocated to the Centre. You can also support the hospital or centre directly by donating here.
