Photos: Lauren Horsch
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Last Friday morning, 13 Drake security officers shaved their heads and posed for a funny photo. Why? To make a 14-year-old girl laugh.
Sgt. Shane Wright of Drake Security received a phone call on June 16 from his mother who told him Wright’s niece, Grace Chance, had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Chance, who lives in Urbandale, Iowa, had been feeling nauseous and was taken to Blank Children’s Hospital. After a CT scan and an agonizing afternoon spent in uncertainty, Chance was told she has a thalamic anaplastic astrocytoma. Due to the location of the tumor, it is not operable.
As Chance goes through chemotherapy and radiation, Wright wanted to do something for her to make her smile. When Chance had her hair shaved off, Wright got the idea to have his fellow security officers shave their heads.
“The reaction was overwhelming — everybody wanted to do it,” Wright said about presenting the idea to his colleagues.
Thirteen bald security officers smiled for the camera on Friday. They held signs that said “Gracie, 22,” Chance’s softball team number.
“I figured it would bring a smile to her face if a bunch of dummies shaved their heads,” Wright said.
Chance has been in Memphis, Tenn., since she was diagnosed. She is being treated at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. Chance is expected to return to Iowa by Labor Day and start school soon after.
“She is really homesick,” Wright said. “She cannot wait to get home and start eighth grade.”
Those who wish to follow Chance’s journey may visit her family’s blog at www.caringbridge.org/visit/prayforgracie.
Follow Chance’s journey on her blog:
