A Bunbury mother battling cancer had the ultimate surprise during her hairdressing appointment when her daughter shaved her own head to show her support.
Speaking with HIT’s Allan and Carly, Tracy Mulcahy revealed she was diagnosed with stage four high-grade ovarian cancer and had undergone chemotherapy, which had caused her hair to begin falling out.
In an act of love, her daughter Sophie Mulcahy grabbed the razor to shave her mum’s head but instead used it on hers.
A video of the emotional moment posted to the Bambi Blonde hairdressing clinic’s Instagram has gone viral, amassing almost half a million views and attracting comments of support.
Australian influencer Olivia Molly Rogers commented: “♥️♥️♥️”
“This is so beautiful,” wrote popular Perth hair salon Circles of Hair.
The viral video was re-posted by goodnews_movement on Instagram, with Hollywood actress Viola Davis sharing her support with a sweet comment on the video.
“God bless you!!” she wrote.
“I’ve had such amazing support from friends and family, and my hairdresser Claire, who I’ve known for years, offered to do the haircut when I was ready,” Tracy said, speaking with the radio station.
“I wasn’t expecting Sophie to shave her hair.
“Claire contacted me and said ‘mind if we share the video just to show the other side of hairdressing?’ and I’m very passionate about getting the word out there about ovarian cancer and people checking.”
Tracey was initially taken to the hospital after contracting COVID last year when doctors discovered the fluid in her lung.
“I contracted COVID last year, taken into hospital. They found fluid on my lung,” she said.
“After testing the fluid, they found out I had gynecological cancer, which is a bit of a blow to start the new year.
“Further investigation has discovered that it’s now actually stage four high-grade ovarian cancer.
“I started the chemotherapy, and my hair started to fall out.”
When questioned about her reaction to Sophie shaving her head, Tracy said it was “just insane” that she would sacrifice her own hair.
“I saw her do it, and I’m like, no, please don’t, please don’t do this. I don’t want you to go through what I’m going through,” she said.
“I think when I sat down in that hairdresser’s chair and prepared myself for the day, but when you actually sit in that chair and normally go to the hairdressers, it’s obviously a positive experience. And then to have to look in and see that there wasn’t a lot of hair left at that point. And to see Sophie do that and sacrifice her own hair for me, it was just insane.”
Sophie explained she didn’t want her mum to “go through this alone”.
“She means the absolute world to me. She’s done everything she could to help me with any issues I’ve had in the past,” she said.
Her daughter will also be donating her hair to her mother’s wig, but in the meantime will be bald with her.