Aideen Smith has seen the full impact of the Shave for the Brave. She is a colon cancer and familial adenomatous polyposis survivor, a member of YACC’s community, and a Shaver who signed up for the 2013 Shave for the Brave as soon as the event was launched.
“Cancer has affected my life a lot…It can be very isolating because so many people don’t—even if they try—they don’t understand,” she said.
She signed up for her first Shave for the Brave in 2011. “While I didn’t do chemo, the drugs and such that they had me on when I was in hospital and for the surgery caused my hair to thin and it wasn’t noticeable to other people, but it bugged the heck out of me.”
The event was how she first learned about YACC and she recognized the importance of a community for young adult cancer survivors.
“There is a colon cancer support group in Ottawa, but everybody is 60-years plus. They don’t have the same frame of reference at all,” she said. “When I found YACC it was like all of a sudden there were all these others who—even if they hadn’t gone through what I’d gone through—they all understood, they all got it.”
“The second time, I was just keen to raise some more money for a great cause. Actually, it became interesting because about a couple of weeks before the Shave I decided I fell in love with my hair! I didn’t know if I could go through with it so I shaved it into a mohawk thinking ‘there we go, now I have to Shave it out to grow it back out,’ and then I fell in love with the mohawk!”
YACC spoke with her at the beginning of Survivor Conference 2012 this past November. It was her second face-to-face event and one that she knew she had to attend based on her experience earlier that year.
“This past July I did Retreat Yourself…It was amazing. The Retreat was just pure bliss. It was the first weekend where I actually felt normal because nobody blinks an eye at anything. If you have to go lay down, it’s normal there, and even with family where they get what you’re going through, you don’t necessarily always get that,” said Smith.
“[The group has] kept in close contact which has been really nice. I actually ended up in hospital at the end of August and when I posted about it on different sites, I got, like, 40 different messages from all the different participants…and it made it so much easier. It’s a support network, even now that we’re passed the Retreat; they’re friendships for life.”
When asked whether or not she would go for the three-peat, she said, “I’m going to have to see. I thought I would do it again—I’m on the fence. I will do it again, but I don’t know if I will this year. My hair is kind of falling out a little bit again so if it keeps up, then probably. If not, I might take a year off.”
Just a couple of weeks later, she had signed up with an impressive fundraising goal of $2,000. Check out her online fundraising page to make a donation or join her team! 
