An employee of the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) recently raised more than $6,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation by shaving off the beard that he had spent years growing.
Phil Friesen, a dispatcher in the APD’s communications operations centre, raised the funds on behalf of his 24-year-old daughter Amy, who was informed earlier this year that she had a large mass on her adrenal gland.
On April 15, surgeons removed a 10 kg tumour, as well as her adrenal gland, gall bladder, appendix and part of her liver.
Amy was diagnosed with a rare cancer called adrenocortical carcinoma.
Half of the funds raised by Friesen will go toward a study on rare types of tumours, and the other half will go to the B.C. Cancer Agency’s cancer centre in Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
Friesen’s beard was shaved off on Sept. 9 by Amy outside the APD.
Donations can still be made online at donate.bccancerfoundation.com/goto/PhilsBeard