Endurance running enthusiast Rajan Raju once completed three marathons in three months in support of Hair for Hope.
In 2010 he ran the marathons in Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong, covering a total of 126km. He did all his fundraising online via Facebook and social media, to raise awareness of the event beyond Singapore.
“Usually we think about Hair for Hope in the Singapore context. But, I wanted to get people enthused and inspired to do the same in their countries,” he says.
But the following year, while training for his next endurance race in Paris, Rajan met with a road accident that left him with a spinal cord injury and temporarily paralysed him from the neck down.
During Hair for Hope 2011, Rajan was slowly relearning a lot of bodily functions. “I could not do much, but I could sit and still shave my head,” he says.
His doctors were more hesitant. Shaving would involve plenty of movement around his neck and upper spine, still delicate from the accident. But they gave the go ahead, and Rajan had his head shaved in the hospital, wearing a neck brace to minimise movement of his spine.
Today Rajan is back on his feet, though his recovery journey is still ongoing. He is diligent with rehabilitation exercises, realistic about his progress, and ambitious about his goals.
“I want to go back and run a marathon in Paris,” he says.
He wants to complete what he started. He wants to support the children fighting cancer, and the families fighting alongside them.
“The journey for the family of children with cancer is really difficult,” he says, “But when the community supports them, it makes a big difference to help the family come out more positive. Hair for Hope is a big part of showing solidarity for the family in their time of need.”