Before she started chemotherapy for a rare form of cancer, Crystal Eldridge put her hair through about four styles.
She sported a red mohawk with a red heart, purple hair and blue hair; at one point, a Wonder Woman insignia was shaved into the back of her head.
Now, Eldridge is helping others who also must go through the cancer treatment process.
The wife of a Tulsa County sheriff’s corporal, Eldridge recently encouraged Sheriff’s Office personnel to shave their heads in solidarity with those fighting cancer. More than a dozen deputies and others did just that on Friday — en masse.
Several dozen showed up to watch the show and eat chili. The lunchtime affair was part of a larger effort to raise money for Assistance in Health Care, a nonprofit that provides financial help to cancer patients in treatment.
“One of the biggest things for people who are going through this is not necessarily their treatment options,” Eldridge said, “but how are they going to make their bills, groceries, child care — things like that.”
Eldridge said during her 32 rounds of radiation and first of four chemotherapy treatments, she and her family have not had to worry too much about the financial aspects. However, she wanted to draw attention to the organization that helps patients through such struggles.
Her husband, Cpl. Marshall Eldridge, was the first to shave his head. At least a dozen deputies and employees at the Sheriff’s Office followed suit, teasing one another throughout.
“Ow,” one deputy said.
“Great. I don’t have to wake up and comb my hair in the morning,” another joked.
Through a lunch, raffle and private donations, the deputies and other employees raised about $2,000.
Styllstix Hair Salon, where Crystal Eldridge got her Wonder Woman insignia, also is helping raise money for the cause. The salon at 8512 N. 129th East Ave. in Owasso will donate $10 of every haircut on March 25 to Assistance in Health Care, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.