A 'bursting' heart: Local teens shave their heads in empathy with friend's mom starting chemo

STUART — When Tamika Dawes shaved her head earlier this month, it was an emotional step in her breast cancer journey as she begins to undergo chemotherapy.

She was in tears the next morning when she saw that her 15-year-old son Aalijah Ford had shaved his head, too.

“It was very shocking and overwhelming,” Dawes said. “My heart just burst, and I couldn’t stop crying when I saw Aalijah did it.”

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Dawes was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in February. Doctors found multiple lumps in her right breast, which they removed along with her lymph nodes. While doctors saw no other signs of cancer, Dawes is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation as a preventative, she said.

Aalijah decided to shave his head after seeing his mother part with her hair on May 11, just before he went to school.

The Martin County High School sophomore asked Kelly Dameron, his friend’s mother, to help him shave his head after school the same day. And then his friends — Blaine Dameron, Brody Everett and Nick Angelastro — decided to shave their heads, too.

After Dawes took in the sight of her freshly buzzed son, Aalijah showed her a video Dameron had made of the boys shaving each other's hair.

“It was mostly my idea to shave my head,” Aalijah said. “But then they decided if I was going to shave my head, they would do it with me so I wouldn't have to do it alone.”

The video went viral on Facebook and had racked up more than 13,000 views.

All four boys initially were nervous to cut their hair, yet they felt it was the right thing to do to support their friend's mom.

“I can only imagine how difficult it was for her to cut her hair,” said Blaine, 16. “So the most I can do to help out, I'm going to do it.”

After viewers asked how they could support Dawes throughout her treatment, Kelly Dameron started a GoFundMe page for her, and so far has raised $2,040, surpassing the $2,000 goal.

Seeing the support from her son’s friends and others around her has helped Dawes navigate her cancer, she said.

“Instead of thinking of this as ‘Oh my God, why me?’ Dawes said, "it's more of I think God showing all of us that there are good people in the world and we are loved by everybody.”

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm's trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429 or follow her on Twitter @gmontesano13. 

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin County teens shave their heads to support friend's mom in chemo