Published: September 07, 2008 08:31 am            

Southern Indiana sisters taking life-shaving measures in fight against cancer

Most women would never voluntarily shave their heads. But that is exactly what sisters Sarah Kincaid Coffman and Amanda Kincaid Johnson plan to do on Tuesday.

The pair isn’t doing it for nothing, though. There are 20 people close to the sisters’ hearts who have given up more than just their hair, and Sarah and Amanda feel like shedding their tresses is the least they can do so no one else they know will have to make the same sacrifice.

“[It’s all] just because of these 20 people,” Amanda said, referring to a list of names printed out on a sheet of paper.

Those 20 people are friends and family members who lost their lives to cancer. And shaving their heads is something Sarah and Amanda are doing to raise money for cancer research, and raise awareness about the disease.

“Here’s the rule: It’s not about changing the world, it’s about changing one person,” Amanda said.

It is typical for one sister to finish the other’s sentence, or complete the other sister’s thought. These two do everything together, so when Amanda said she was shaving her head, Sarah didn’t need to be convinced.

“I can’t say no to this woman,” Sarah said. “She never asked, she was just like, ‘we’re doing this,’ and my first thought when she told me was it was just an incredible thing she was doing and I wanted to be part of it.”

It’s not that both haven’t thought about what it will be like as the razor shaves off the last piece of hair, or what they can wear on their heads instead. Or about the fact that winter is coming and it might be a little bit chillier.

But they have head scarves and hats, and knit caps given to them by the Cancer Care Center. And they don’t want to cover it up anyway. The more people who notice, and ask, the more people they can send a message about cancer research and prevention.

So what about when people sneak stares at them when they’re out at the store or when people ask them about their lack of hair?

“I’m going to tell them, I love my family and I hate cancer — we have to do something,” Sarah said.

“And not ‘we’ as in doctors, ‘we’ as in everybody — everyone can do something,” Amanda added.

And when a situation warrants action, doing something comes naturally to the sisters — neither is a stranger to giving or trying to help anyone in anyway they can.

Sarah teaches Spanish to eighth-graders and freshmen at Corydon Central High School and Amanda works as the assistant coordinator for New Directions through the Clark County Youth Shelter.

Both said the reaction from the kids they work with when they hear about their plan is a mix of awe and — from the girls — the thought that they could never shave their heads.

“The girls are like, ‘you’re doing this on purpose?’” Amanda said. “And the boys think it’s cool.”

Their husbands, Brian Coffman and Sam Johnson, also think it’s cool. And more than that, just another reason why the women they married are incredible individuals.

“When I first told him I expected a reaction, but he was just like, ‘OK,’” Amanda said of her husband, Sam. “He said it’s one more reason he loves me, because I do things without thinking of myself.”

Nine others will join Sarah and Amanda when they shave their heads Tuesday during a fundraiser at the Admiral Bicknell Inn in New Albany. The money raised from donations at the event will go to Dr. Shawn Glisson at the American Cancer Biorepository. The biorepository researches different types of cancer, and investigates ways to treat specific cancers accordingly.

“If you have cancer he can treat your cancer, not just cancer in general,” Amanda said.

With their help — and help from people who step up to support their cause — Amanda and Sarah hope Dr. Glisson will be able to treat even more people with cancer. And that hopefully, within their lifetimes, they will see a change in the impact cancer has on people’s lives.

Maybe, the sisters say, that change will come in the form of treatment options, prevention or even a cure. And if giving up their brunette locks is what it takes to bring about the change, that’s what Amanda and Sarah are willing to do.

        

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