VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Sarah Swaim is growing fonder of the bald look. “I already knew I had a beautifully shaped head and that I looked pretty rockin’ with no hair,” she joked.
Doctors diagnosed Furco with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2014. She had a bone marrow transplant in 2015 after a relapse. Furco is in remission today, but she still has side effects from the cancer treatment that saved her life.Last month, she went bald for the third time in her life. This time, she did it voluntarily to show solidarity for Abby Furco, the little girl who’s stolen her heart.
Swaim knows what it’s like to have a tough diagnosis. Thirteen years ago, Swaim was diagnosed with Bephenotypic leukemia. The cancer came back for a second time several years later. During the relapse, she was able to take part in a clinical trial funded by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and has now been in remission for more than five years.
Swaim met Furco when she was a counselor at a camp for children with cancer. “She’s got the greatest spirit, and I see a lot of myself in what she’s been going through," Swaim said.
In order to show support for Furco, and other children fighting cancer, Swaim let Furco shave her head at a St. Baldrick’s Foundation head-shaving fundraiser.
Swaim braced herself as large chunks of her hair fell to the floor. But once it was all gone, she smiled, sitting next to the girl who inspired her to do it.
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