Mum dreads thought of no hair Scott Gullan
From: Herald Sun
May 04, 2011 WENDY Nason is worried - even though, on a scale of one to 10, it's a minus 50 compared with what she's had to deal with over the past nine months.
The thought of her oldest son, Ben, running out for Richmond against Fremantle on Saturday without his dreadlocks is causing her some concern.
"I've actually always liked them and I can't imagine him without them now," she says.
"He's going to look very, very young."
Wendy is the reason behind the dreadlocks disappearing. More specifically, it's the result of her battle with breast cancer since last July.
"When mum was diagnosed I wanted to cut them off straight away and raise money, but mum didn't want me to," Ben explained.
"But mum's hair is growing back now, so I'm going to cut mine off and grow it back with her."
His last haircut was four years ago and he's had dreadlocks of some description since he was 16.
By Friday they will be gone - at the hands of teammate Brett Deledio.
The event will be televised on the club's website with Tiger fans urged to donate money to the McGrath Foundation.
Ben, who was recruited from Central District in South Australia and played 19 games in his first season with the Tigers, spoke for the first time yesterday about the black cloud that has hung over his family.
"It was pretty hard being so far away from everyone," he said.
"I was always thinking about it and mum definitely inspired me.
"During the pre-season when we were getting flogged I would think about how hard it would be for her to go through that."
Once the initial shock of the diagnosis subsided, Wendy, 42, took up the fight of her life with typical determination.
Just two weeks after having the cancer removed, the mother of three was back running her cleaning business despite having chemotherapy every day for six weeks.
"I went back two weeks after surgery and worked all the way through my chemo and radiation treatment," she said.
"I wanted to keep it as normal as possible."
Ben, 21, wasn't surprised.
"I'm pretty close to mum and I knew she would secretly be emotional about it, but put on a brave face around everyone else because that's just the way she is.
"I wanted to go back and help her, but obviously I couldn't."
Five weeks ago Wendy received the all clear and the family is now looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday.
"The family is getting back to normal, which is all I want," she says.
"When you are going through it everything just gets put on hold, now you've got to live life to the fullest.
"You can't say I'll do that tomorrow, you do it now.
"You hear the statistics about cancer and you think to yourself, 'How can there be so many?' "
"When I found out, I was one of four that morning in one clinic and it was only 11am.
"You wonder why they get this number but the thing is you just can't let it beat you."
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