WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Max Wehrle, Martin Hayward, Gary Beer and Tim Muron show off their newly shorn look at the MTS Centre construction site yesterday.
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THE sounds of hammering and drilling were briefly replaced at the MTS Centre construction site yesterday by another sound -- the buzzing of hair clippers.
Martin Hayward, a two-time cancer survivor and site foreman with WESCAN Electrical Services working at the arena, volunteered to have his head, eyebrows, and moustache shaved to raise money for cancer research.
And he wasn't alone.
Dozens of Hayward's co-workers at the site gathered during their lunch hour in the bowl of the arena, still under construction, to watch Hayward and three of his co-workers -- Tim Muron, Gary Beer, and Max Wehrle -- lose their locks for cancer care.
The gesture is especially personal for Hayward, who was diagnosed with cancer twice in one year.
He first discovered he had cancer in his spleen on Christmas Eve of 1997.
Difficult treatment followed for Hayward, requiring the removal of a tumour, along with his spleen. He also began chemotherapy.
"It was a diet plan," joked the 47-year-old father of two.
"I went from 256 pounds to 140."
Hayward's cancer went into remission, but reappeared in 1998. He underwent a stem cell transplant, and now, more than five years later, Hayward happily says he is cancer-free, and wants to show his support for others fighting cancer.
He has shaved his head each April since 1998 to raise money for cancer research and treatment programs.
"I just do it because I know the trauma people have to go through for cancer," he said.
This year, Hayward began collecting donations from co-workers at the beginning of March, with a goal of raising $1,500 for CancerCare Manitoba and the Canadian Cancer Society.
Hayward said he's raised over $6,000 in the last month, and donations are still coming in.
"Naked," was how Beer described his feelings immediately after the extreme haircut.
"I'll have to invest in a toque."
Beer, who is getting married this fall, said he only decided the night before to go through with the shaving.
But in the end, Beer said he felt the need to support Hayward. "I felt it was a good thing to do," he said. "He's just a great guy."
Jack Murray, director of the Canadian Cancer Society in Manitoba, said the sacrifice the four men have made will do more than raise money.
Anyone interested in donating to Hayward's campaign can call PCL Constructors Canada Inc. at 947-5300, ext. 201.
