I'm shaving my head for St. Baldrick's to honor my sister, Anna Kellner, a childhood cancer fighter and survivor.

"I’m so incredibly lucky to have a family like my family and a big brother like Cody Kellner! In cancer and in health, my brother has been my most outspoken supporter. When I heard that he was shaving for St. Baldrick’s this year, I was overwhelmed by the memory of a particularly shiny surprise. 

My dad used to grab my ponytail and say, “Look at this! It’s just as thick as a horse’s tail!” and I would smile with pride. It was dirty blonde and hung down my back in thick waves. At sixteen years old, it was my security blanket. Naturally, when I was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma and told that I would undergo chemotherapy, I cried for my hair. I did not fully understand the other sacrifices that my family and I would have to make. 

 My family had to accept that sometimes you simply have no control. We saw the monetary ramifications of keeping a young girl alive despite her body’s ultimate betrayal. We were forced to deal with exceptional emotional trauma brought on by this terrible disease. My hair should have been the least of my worries but because it symbolized my self-esteem, it was one of the greater troubles of cancer for me.

 But when I sat on a barstool in the kitchen and felt my brothers’, mother’s, and father’s shaking hands drag the clippers across my head, I desperately tried to smile. I had to hold back the tears and convince myself that it wasn’t a big deal. Hair is just hair. But it didn’t work; I was devastated and my family knew it. 

 So what did they do? They didn’t tell me to toughen up or get over it. That’s not how my family rolls. My brothers, mother, aunt, little cousin, and grandmother all showed up with bald heads to show their unwavering support and solidarity. It’s the kind of act that makes you feel like you aren’t alone. I’m so proud to be the baby sister of a brave, bald big brother!"

- Anna Kellner