Kids Shave Heads To Support Classmate Battling Cancer
BETHEL PARK (KDKA) - A second grader at a school in Bethel Park wears his ball cap all the time after he lost his hair during cancer treatments.
However, his classmates didn't want him to feel alone.
Buzz cuts were back in style at Flyboyz Barber Shop in Bridgeville.
Six boys from Saint Thomas More School were shaving their heads in solidarity with 8-year-old classmate Gabe Cipollone, who wears a hat to cover hair loss from chemotherapy treatments for lung cancer.
"I'm going to shave my head for Gabe because he had cancer and he's really nice to all of us," Kyle Rohrich said.
Gabe's family is gratified by the second graders' show of compassion.
"Word has kind of been spreading like wildfire. It started out with just a few boys and now it's spread to several others in his class," Gabe's father, Chris Cipollone, said.
Gabe's friend, Leo Farmerie, came up with the idea.
"I didn't want him to feel alone. I didn't want him to be the only one bald," Farmerie said.
Unable to attend school during treatment, Gabe communicates with his class through Skype.
The second graders have also raised more than $7,000 for Saint Baldrick's Foundation for Cancer Research.
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