Hair loss a stomach-turning ordeal

Nelson Hospital house surgeon Catherine McKay felt queasy watching her long hair fall to the ground.

She didn’t feel much better once it was all cut off and lay on the floor outside the hospital cafe.

“I feel sick,” she told The Nelson Mail.

FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Catherine McKay looks anxious as she has her head shaved by John van Gosliga of Aboki Hairdressers.

She had been growing her hair which reached down to the middle of her back for her wedding last November.

Mrs McKay was one of 12 hospital staff, including nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and even chief operating officer Keith Rusholme, who lost their locks yesterday as part of Shave for a Cure.

The week-long national promotion sees people shaving their heads to raise money for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation of New Zealand.

Those taking part at Nelson Hospital didn’t muck around, with all 12 receiving “zero” cuts, with their hair shaved off down to the skin, revealing white scalps and heads of all shapes and sizes.

Rita Upreti, 25, a junior doctor with long tresses, also took the plunge.

Miss Upreti said she was happy to lose her shoulder-length hair for the worthy cause, even though she had previously never had hair that was shorter than her shoulders.

“My mother is going to have a heart attack.”

She said no one thought she would go through with her pledge to cut her hair, including her friend Mrs McKay.

Mrs McKay said she and husband James, who is also a house surgeon at the hospital, decided to have their heads shaved as a tribute to their baby niece, who died recently.

Mrs McKay couldn’t back out she’d promised Miss Upreti that she would cut off her hair if she did.

House surgeon Nick Smith said he decided to organise the event because he had wanted to organise a charity event this year, and thought Shave for a Cure was a great one to support.

“It’s a really good way to get hospital colleagues together and unite and show a bit of empathy for patients that we deal with on a daily basis.”

Dr Smith said $2800 was raised by the end of yesterday, and he expected the total to reach $3000.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology staff are also getting behind the fundraiser, with eight planning to have their heads shaved by hairdressing students at noon today.