Newfoundland girl, 7 raises almost $7,000 for cancer fundraiser, shaves head

Ryann Fradsham, 7, raised more money than anyone else in the country for this year's annual Shave for the Brave fundraiser for Young Adult Cancer Canada: more than $7,000.

This Saturday, the grade 1 student from Paradise, Newfoundland, had her head shaved in front of a crowd of supporters at the Avalon Mall in St. John's.

"We are so very proud of Ryann. She decided this year for her birthday instead of gifts she wanted to donations so that she could participate in Shave for the Brave. She just wanted to be able to help people and decided this was how she wanted to do it," Ryann's mother, Melissa Fradsham, wrote on Ryann's fundraising page.

"I'm very nervous — she doesn't seem to care," Melissa told CBC News before the event. "She says, 'Mom, it's only hair and I get to help people with cancer,' so we're just so proud — we're overwhelmed."

"She's just a good little girl, and she wanted to do this really badly, and she did it," Ryann's grandmother, Mona Fradsham, added.

Once Ryann's long blonde hair was gone — Ryann was one of over 270 fundraisers who shaved their heads at Avalon Mall this weekend — her proud parents told CBC News that the entire Shave for the Brave experience was one they would never forget.

"I guess sometimes today you don't really see that with the younger generation, so for her to be so caring at a young age and make a difference, it's unbelievable," Melissa Fradsham said.