In a world where people struggle to agree on pretty much anything, no one is going to argue with the statement that cancer sucks. Every person, every family, every friend group – we’ve all been touched in one way or another.

And it sucks.

There’s nothing fair about who it chooses to attack, who it takes far too soon, and who it forces us to go on living without – all we can do is be the best support system we can be for the people we love who are in the fight of their lives.

This girl, who shaved her head in solidarity with a friend, is an excellent example of how to be a good friend – and a good human – when the chips are down.

Photo Credit: Instagram

It was in November that 19-year-old Kara Farnham got a diagnosis that every person dreads – she had a type of blood cancer called Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Kara told Buzzfeed “the cancer was huge and aggressive, causing many other health problems. However, I’m currently in my sixth and final cycle of chemotherapy!”

Like many cancer patients who undergo treatment, Kara began to lose her hair about a month later. When it got too hard to try to style, her mother helped her shave it off.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6FgbB3AeVq/

When her best friend, Nikita Grace Stewart learned about her friend’s diagnosis, she knew instantly what she would do.

“I looked directly at my mum and said, ‘I’m going to shave my hair for her. And there was no umming or ahing and no backwards and forwards about whether I should do it or not. I was just going to do it.”

Not only did she plan to shave her head, Nikita also created a fundraising page on Australia’s Cancer Council page so she could raise money for other people struggling, as well.

In mid-January, Kara cut her friend’s braids off before the shaving began. She posted a video on TikTok, and since then, the whole world has been feeling a lot of emotions, okay?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7QHkpxgjTs/

At least, 12 million people in the world, which is how many views (so far).

“The decision to shave my hair was easy. I know firsthand that, in this day and age, being a young woman is hard and what’s even harder is that in society we have an expectation to look a certain way…Even though Kara isn’t the type of person to care about what others think of her, I knew deep down that while going through an event in her life so traumatic, losing her hair would be tough.”
@karafarnhamlove u @_nikita_stewart_ ##foryou ##fyp ##xyzbca ##foryoupagе♬ death bed (coffee for your head) – Powfu feat. beabadoobee

I think it would be for anyone, and I truly hope that, were I in either of these girls’ situations, I would understand so fully how to be there for (or accept love from) the other person.
Nikita raised over $8k for Cancer Council, donated her hair, and gave her friend unconditional love and support during a terrifying time in her life.
And as for Kara, she’s not taking her friend for granted.
“When Nikita shaved her hair off, I felt more proud than anything. Walking down a busy street with my best friend after she shaved her head was an amazing feeling too. A lot of people would stare at us, but Nikita doesn’t care what people think of her, so her confidence rubbed off on me a bit too.”
Strong women. May we be them, may we raise them, may we befriend them, may we love and support them.
So say we all.