Watch: When The Bride & Groom Shaved Head In Solidarity With Mom Battling Cancer

A bride and groom in New Zealand shaved their heads in solidarity with the bride's mother who lost her hair due to chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. In 2020, Jony Lee was anticipating her wedding when she learned about her mother's cancer. The mother's, Luna Macapagal, cancer had returned and she had to go through the entire process of chemotherapy again after having overcome stage 4 ovarian cancer earlier. Lee's mother passed away in 2021. But Lee's heartwarming gesture of standing in solidarity with her mother and other cancer patients remained with us. 

“We thought she was all in the clear, and then it did come back,” 24-year-old Lee of Auckland, New Zealand told TODAY.com. She said that her mother's first thought was 'Oh no, not this process all over again.’ She was also worried about losing her hair. 

So, to support her mother, Lee decided to shave her hair too.“I told her, ‘Well if there’s one that I’ll do with you. … I will shave my hair,’” Lee told the media portal. 

Lee and her husband decided to shave each other's hair at their wedding

Lee found a special way to do it. She and her husband shaved each other's hair during the wedding reception and encouraged people to donate money to a cancer organisation that helped Lee's mother. The video of the moment has gone viral on TikTok with more than 5 million likes. The video helped Lee to not only spread the need for solidarity with cancer patients but also create an awareness about ovarian cancer. 

Awareness about ovarian cancer

It is not easy to detect ovarian cancer. The symptoms are very few and can be detected only in the later stages. Even at the later stage, the symptoms are not as recognisable. Similarly, Lee's mother too had to make several hospital visits before being diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2018. 

Macapagal used to feel unwell and often visited doctors. But doctors used to send her back saying that she was dealing with menopause, diverticulitis or any other disease. “Only ... two or three years after, they finally diagnosed her with stage 4 cancer and that’s crazy to me," said Lee

When their family doctor insisted on CT Scan, Lee's mother was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. “I honestly think they felt sick of her. They were like, ‘Fine, we’ll put you through a scan,'" Lee said. 

However, during the surgery, it was revealed that Macapagal was dealing with stage four ovarian cancer. But post the surgery, Macapagal was in remission only until 2020 when the cancer hit her again. 

But this time, doctors said that Macapagal was too weak to undergo more treatments. The cancer had spread way too much for her to get rid of it.

Lee, who had decided to support her mother by losing her hair, was in dilemma now. Was there any other way to make this special? she wondered. That's when her husband stepped in and said that they would shave their hair together at their wedding. 

“My husband, out of all people, said, ‘Oh we should just do it at our wedding and I’ll do it with you' That’s how it came about," Lee said.

How the entire shaving hair surprise was executed 

The entire initiative was a surprise for everyone except Lee's sister-in-law, the photographers and videographers. As the Filipino tradition of weddings goes, the bride and groom are supposed to dance and the guests would pin money to their dresses. Lee decided to urge the guests to donate to the cancer organisation that helped her mother rather than giving the money to the couple. 

When it was time for the dance, Lee took the mic and said how much she loved Macapagal. Then, she took clippers and shaved her husband's hair. Then, her husband shaved Lee's hair. The entire crowd at the venue were overwhelmed with emotion and was crying. 

“It wasn’t like crying with sadness … This mood (powered) through the whole room where you could just feel everyone’s all connected and understood exactly what we were standing for. It was unreal, " Lee said. 

When Lee saw how the guests were touched by her gesture which was solely for her mom, she realised how cancer affects everyone. “Cancer affects everyone you know. It affects your coworkers, your aunts, your uncles, cousins, boyfriends, girlfriends and so on and so on. There’s so many people who have been affected by it that I didn’t realize the impact of it," she said. 

On the other hand, Lee's mother, Macapagal was stunned. “My mom was obviously full of emotion, and when I asked her what she thought of it, she did a chuckle, and she was like, ‘You’re so crazy. But you are my daughter, this is something you would do,’ Lee said.

Life after Macapagal's death 

Since Lee's mother died soon after her marriage, Lee didn't get much time to spend her married life with her mother. “There are moments where I get sad that every time we do something cool — like when we moved out for the first time or you get a promotion or graduated or whatnot — and she wasn’t there for all that," Lee said. 

However, Lee believes her mother would be proud to see how their story has reached and touched so many people. Lee has received many career opportunities since her video went viral. And she believes that her mother, if alive today, would have taken all the credit for her career. Lee said, “Every small thing to do with my career … stems from that story. So, she would be very sassy and be like, ‘I did that for you.’” 

Macapagal passed away in 2021. Lee still recalls every moment she lived with her mother. Earlier she didn't have a very good relationship with her mother. However, when Macapagal fell sick, the mother-daughter duo came close. Recalling this change in relationship dynamics, Lee felt bad that it took her mother's illness to start valuing her. 

“For it to take her getting sick for me to realize and mend that relationship, it feels a bit s-----. When I look back on it, it reminds me that with all the relationships that I have now, I need to make sure I value them," Lee said.