A tradition full of empathy and awareness: Patrick Elwood shaves his head for St Baldrick's
CHICAGO — St. Baldrick's is the ultimate show of solidarity. Often times the rigors of cancer fighting treatments leads to patients losing their hair. So out of an abundance of empathy, supporters knowns as 'shave-ees' pledge in a mission of mercy to lose their locks and raise money.
The Streamwood Fire Department did earlier this week in honor of Austin Fox. Austin is an 18 year cancer survivor. His dad is a firefighter and it's his dad's 22nd year shaving.
More from the WGN Morning News St Patrick's Day Extravaganza!
In WGN's Patrick Elwood's hometown of Evergreen Park, friends and neighbors are rallying for 12-year-old Patrick Juarez who has an aggressive type of soft tissue cancer.
The money raised will go to seven research hospitals right in Chicago and the suburbs.
This is Pat's 21st year of going bald. His wife Katie and sons Marty and Grady joined in. His daughter Kallista has battled brain tumors in the form of Cushing's Disease several times since 2015.
And in the last few months his sister Peggy has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and is currently undergoing chemo.
More News, Weather and Headlines at wgntv.com
Cancer cure rates at the kids' level are around 80% overall, but many loved ones are losing their battles.
With the recent cuts to funding by the Trump Administration to the National Institutes of Health, which underwrites cancer research at hospitals and universities across the country, privately funded charities like Baldricks have taken on an even more important role.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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