Virginia School Gets Buzz Cuts in Support of Second Grader With Leukemia
"He thinks its really cool," Deb Cross said of her son.
— -- In an act of kindness, students at a Virginia school received buzz cuts last month in support of a 7-year-old peer battling cancer.
Noah Cross is a second-grader at St. Edward-Epiphany Catholic School in Richmond, Virginia. He was diagnosed with leukemia on May 11.
"I think it shows there's a lot of really good people who care, above and beyond," mom Deb Cross of Midlothian, Virginia told ABC News. "That school, it's like his family. They've been phenomenal. It just makes him smile to see those kids and to know that he's still included."
In less than one month, Noah has had two blood transfusions, three platelet transfusions and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, his mother said.
"He's doing pretty well," Cross said. "He's a kid, so he's resilient to a lot of things.
"Basically, he has no immune system, so we don't go anywhere," she added. "We go to the clinic and then we go home. He just wants to be a kid, but he can't."
Abby McDonald, director of development at St. Edward-Epiphany, said Deb Cross dialed the principal immediately after Noah's cancer diagnosis.
"He's a kid that's full of light," McDonald told ABC News. "He's kind, he's always smiling and the family is wonderful. It hit pretty close to home, it was devastating. We are just trying to be as supportive as we possibly can."
McDonald said that the school set it up so Noah would have a teacher visit his home daily, so long as he felt up to it.
In addition, the school created "Buzz Cuts for Noah" -- a fundraiser that had Noah's teachers and peers gather to shave their heads to raise donations for his medical bills.
The event raised $2,500 for Noah in addition to over $11,000 on the "Noah's Road to Recovery" GoFundMe page.
A total of 37 students, from second-to-eighth grade, received buzz cuts, McDonald confirmed. Five of them were girls. Three alumni students, two faculty members and some of Noah's extended family also received the special haircut.
"He thinks it's really cool," Cross said of her son. "Noah's just a really kind child. He doesn't quite understand what he's going through, but he just thinks it's great that everybody loves him so much and we do too."
Noah is scheduled to have a bone marrow biopsy next week. Cross said she hopes the results show that he's cancer-free.
