MONTREAL – A first grade student from Royal Vale School is proving that patience truly is a virtue.
Six-year-old Cameron Saibil has been waiting two years to cut his hair so that he could donate his locks to the Canadian Cancer Society.
“People with cancer are going to feel happy that they have hair now, and they are going feel better,” the first-grader said.
Saibil was inspired when one of his kindergarten teachers cut her hair for a child with cancer, so he decided to do the same.
“It’s amazing,” said his mother, Vanessa Harrar.
“He can do anything – he’s totally focused and we’re so proud of him!”
He chose the second-to-last day of school to cut his locks and sport a new ‘do’, with the help of hair stylist David Devico.
Saibil’s classmates were on hand to watch him get the big cut, including Jayden Roll – a seven-year-old leukemia survivor – and Finn Salkeld, Saibil’s best friend, who said he “looks cool now!”
PHOTO GALLERY: Cameron Saibil goes from ‘1970s rock star’ to ‘Italian soccer player’
Hair stylist David Devico gave a timely name to Saibil’s haircut, one that the elementary student is quite fond of.
“We’ll call it the ‘Italian soccer player’ for this month, seeing as how it’s the Euro and stuff – that’s inspiring me these days,” Devico said.
Saibil’s contribution went further than the haircut, though.
He also raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society, surpassing his goal of $500 by nearly doubling it.
“Our initial amount was $300,” said his mom, “and within one day we passed that, so we moved to $500, and now it’s out of the park.”
Saibil inspired his vice principal, who handed the razor over to the student so he could shave his head in solidarity as well.
“The experience was great – Cameron had a blast doing it, and so did I, and more importantly we’re doing this for a good cause, so why not!” Vincenzo Timpano said.
The school’s principal, Nathalie Lacroix-Maillette, was all smiles at the event.
“We’re an education institution,” she said, “so we teach kids – but this is the perfect example of us learning from them – so it’s really fantastic!”