Ron Gillies arrived at the age of 90 blessed in a number of ways.
First and foremost, there is his large, adoring family – Ron and his late wife raised seven children. But then there is also his full head of white hair.
“Little thin on top, but I do have [it],” Ron chuckled.
Even more remarkable is that Ron’s maintained his mane after going through what he calls “an awful lot of cancer” over the last three years.
Still, Ron was perfectly fine on Saturday having a stranger with electric clippers shave it all off in front of a crowd of cheering supporters.
Why?
“I know I want to help. And that's what I want to do,” said Ron.
The ones Ron wants to help are children who, like him, are faced with a cancer diagnosis. His head-shaving was part of a St. Baldrick's fundraiser held at The Publican, a bar and restaurant in Windsor owned by Ron's son-in-law.
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For years, St. Baldrick's has been organizing similar fundraisers all over the country. People promise to shave their heads during the event in exchange for pledges of donations to help fund kids' cancer research.
Ron was the second of 11 "shavees" at the Publican that day. Ron was all smiles as the razor went over his hair. In just a few minutes, he was bald for the first time in his life. After taking a look in the mirror, Ron described the look as "better than I thought."
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When all trims were said and done, the event raised $11,000 and counting.
