“It’s all I can do to get out of bed every morning.”

On February 4th, 2016, Lynda Portelance went bald.

It was World Cancer Day, and Lynda was on a mission: to raise awareness of living life with cancer and to raise money in support of local cancer care through the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

She was waiting in the cash line at Costco when she noticed a girlfriend she hadn’t seen in a while.

“Always being a flat-out person,” says Lynda, “I said to her: ‘you look terrible’.”

Turns out Lynda’s friend had been successfully treating a cancer. She pulled off her hat and revealed her loss of hair.

At that same moment, a man waiting in line behind them made a gratuitous comment to his wife about Lynda’s friend possibly being a lesbian. It was loud enough that the ladies heard him. Lynda expected her friend would reply and say something about the impropriety of stereotypes, but she didn’t.

“I don’t want to deal with it,” her friend said. “It’s all I can do to get out of bed every morning.”

Lynda was bowled over.

Some women shave their hair out of choice, others lose it because they have no other choice than chemotherapy to save their lives. So Lynda decided to start a campaign in support of her friend and all those who live with cancer.

“I’m not sick, and I have the energy to respond for those who don’t,” says Lynda. “In the event that someone should make an ignorant or hurtful comment about my own short hair or bald look, they’re going to get an earful from me! They’ll think twice before ever commenting on short or sparse hair again.”

After shaving her hair, Lynda collected money from donation boxes she’d previously scattered in various businesses around Kemptville, Osgoode, and Ottawa. Lynda Goes Bald successfully raised over $2,000, of which every penny will go towards funding Cancer Coaching, research, and clinical trials.

Thank you, Lynda, for ensuring local families facing cancer find their voice and feel empowered!