For many of us, our hair is our pride and joy. We spend a lot of money to treat it, color it, cut it, and style it. Given the love affair you share with your hair, would you shave your head to show your support if your coach (or best friend: read Kelly Pickler's story here) was diagnosed with cancer?
Two weeks ago, the Colts mascot, Blue, sent out a challenge to Colts Cheerleaders via Twitter. If they could work together to raise $10,000 for leukemia research by November 25, Blue challenged one cheerleader to save her head in honor of head coach Chuck Pagano.
Colts cheerleader Megan M. proudly accepted the challenge by tweeting back, “Count me in! I’ll do it! I’m #ColtStrong.” Click here to watch a video of her contractual commitment on the Colts Website.
If you read Megan's tweets or listen to her speak about the challenge, you can’t help but smile. As a former Miss Indiana, she is a beautiful young woman. But her heart is what makes her even more beautiful.
In a recent interview with WishTV, Megan said, "I've just had personal experiences with people who have had cancer. I've had mentors and family members and volunteer at Riley and met little girls who have lost their hair and beat cancer multiple times. Just seeing struggles they went through and how they could overcome that and still have confidence and fight this fight without their hair - they are really my inspiration for doing this."
On Thanksgiving Day, Coach Pagano sent Megan a text message to say thanks and mention how proud he is of Megan.
Megan didn’t just inspire Coach Pagano. According to the WishTV.com article, Great Clips locations donated $10 to the Blue’s ChuckStrong Challenge for every fan that shaved their head. More than 800 fans shaved their heads at Great Clips. To date, more than $250,000 has been raised for leukemia research in Chuck Pagano’s honor.
According to the same WishTV.com article, Blue and Megan raised more than $22,670 during the past two weeks.
Simply amazing.
During the Colts game against the Buffalo Bills earlier today, Megan lived up to her promise and shaved her head. Megan's courage inspired a fellow cheerleader to also shaved her head during the game. The pair held hands as they shaved their heads together.
And guess what? The girls look just as beautiful (if not more) than before. Bald is beautiful!
No hair shows you care.
For the love of hair (and inspiring, bold women like Megan),
Ashley
Pictures via Twitter
