School becomes shearing shed
Taiaroa McDonald's classmates have made sure he does not stick out by getting the same haircut as him after the 17-year-old was diagnosed with cancer.
The King's High School first XV halfback was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in March, and is in the midst of his chemotherapy.
His best friend and team captain Charlie Heller, 18, organised for the team to shave off their hair and fundraise for this year's Shave for a Cure effort.
About 70 boys from King's ended up joining the effort at lunchtime yesterday.
Taiaroa said he began noticing symptoms during his preseason training earlier this year.
"That was pretty shocking for me," he said.
"It caught me quite off guard because I wasn't really expecting to hear that [the diagnosis]."
Rugby quickly became secondary for him and he had to prioritise his health.
"It'd be great to be playing rugby this year, but next year I'll be playing anyway."
Taiaroa was keeping a strong mindset by considering others less fortunate than him.
"There's always someone in a worse position.
"Some people are in stage four, I'm only in stage two.
"My circumstances aren't exactly good, but I'm still able to get out and go to the gym and enjoy my life still."
He said he was living a relatively normal life and was reacting to the therapy well.
He still trained with his first XV team-mates and would be filling up water bottles at the games.
Taiaroa said he had taken on the role of "technical adviser".
"I pretty much do everything except for when Saturday comes around.
" I don't walk out on to the field with the boys, which is tough.
"I'd really like to think that I would have had a big season not just with King's, but for myself this year, but I'm still behind the boys all the way and I reckon they'll do well."
Charlie said it was pretty gutting for him to hear what his friend was going through and he wanted to help.
"It's pretty easy when you have a great mate like Tai just to get behind him and with a good bunch of boys we can support him and make him feel a bit better during his tough times."
He said having the same haircut would bring the team a lot closer together.
It was motivating to know that Taiaroa was on the sidelines when they were having a tough time on the field.
The team had fundraised $5117 so far and the money raised would go towards finding a cure for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• Donations could be made using the following link: www.shaveforacure.co.nz/fundraisers/kingshighschool1stxv759/shave-for-a-...
mark.john@odt.co.nz
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