Grand Prairie Mom Shaving Head For Cancer Awareness
GRAND PRAIRIE (CBSDFW.COM) – A Grand Prairie mother says this is something she needs to do: She and 45 other moms will be making a brave and very public declaration in Washington, D. C. this week.
Their hope is to bring attention to the need for more cancer research for kids.
Bryce Raub was such a happy baby. It didn't matter if he was home or in the hospital. He was always smiling.
"He was like the light of the room," said his mother Amy.
"I just wish we had more time," she said.
She knows exactly how long her family had with him.
"We had 674 days, 12 hours, and 56 minutes," she said.
Bryce was 22 months old. He was gone before he even learned to talk.
"He had Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. The type of cancer they have absolutely no research on an infant," she said.
Amy Raub's world stopped on January 6, 2011.
"My purpose was to make sure he got where he needed to go. And when he died, I didn't have anywhere to go," she said.
Now, she'll be traveling from Grand Prairie to Washington, D.C. as one of 46 moms who'll be shaving their heads, in public, for The Saint Baldricks Foundation's childhood cancer awareness project.
The foundation calls it "Shave for the Brave."
The Saint Baldricks Foundation says 46 represents the number of families who find out, every day, their child has cancer.
"This is us just saying we're standing behind them and that we're not going to stop fighting for them," she said.
Raub, 36, has already bought hats to wear. But, she just may go without.
"I'm kind of feeling like come Wednesday, I'm going to get to sleep in a little longer," she said.
Not that much longer. She has 5-year-old Wade to watch.
Though her family supports her in her decision, this was something Amy Raub believes she needs to do.
"It's definitely going to be an emotional moment," she said.
Forty-six moms from across the nation will be shaving their heads in D.C. on Wednesday.
They've chosen Union Station during the 5 o'clock afternoon rush hour for their location, when thousands of commuters pass by every day.
