Jeanette Hobern – before, during and after
Jeanette Hobern changed her look dramatically in the blink of an eye last Saturday.
In around 15 minutes, the former Girl Guide NZ district governor went from having the longest hair of her life to having the shortest … all in support of prostate cancer’s Blue September initiative.
Long-time friend and hairdresser Eric Phillips cut and bagged her locks, readying them expertly to be made into a wig for cancer-sufferers.
Doing something in support of the NZ Prostate Cancer Foundation is something Jeanette has had in mind since her husband Brian was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a routine blood test in July 2020.
“It came completely out of the blue … there were no symptoms,” she said. “Then I saw that the stats say that one in eight New Zealand men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime. That really hit home, and I decided I wanted to do something to help raise awareness.”
Jeanette thought she would grow her hair to be made into a wig. Covid lockdowns gave her an easy start, but her hair wasn’t quite long enough by last September’s Blue September initiative to meet the 14-inch criteria needed for a wig, so she kept on growing it.
Then last Saturday September 24 – two years to the day after Brian’s surgery – Jeanette, Brian and their camera-toting son Darren popped into Eric’s home salon
Jeanette started a Blue September fundraiser on the Prostate Cancer Foundation website at the start of the month, hoping to raise $5000.
