Head-Shaving

Father and Son Take On Childhood Cancer by Going Bald Together

by Erinn Jessop, St. Baldrick's Foundation
June 17, 2015

Father and son duo Greg and Jaxon, also known as The Cope Boys, have shaved together for five years and they’re not stopping any time soon. What keeps them coming back to the barber’s chair for more? Read on to find out.

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The Cope Boys smile after shaving together in 2013.

Greg Cope’s son, Jaxon, was just 4 years old when he decided to shave his head for kids with cancer.

They were at a St. Baldrick’s event when Jaxon turned to his dad and asked something unexpected. He asked if he could shave his head for his Grandpa Bob, who was Greg’s father.

“I had just lost my dad to cancer, so I was like, ‘Of course, of course,’” Greg said. “So, he got his head shaved — me and him at the same time — and we’ve been doing it every year together.”

Greg gives his son a surprised look after being shaved bald during a St. Baldrick's event

Greg feigns surprise at his baldness after his fifth shave this year at a St. Baldrick’s event in Florida.

Now 9 years old and just past his fifth event in Viera, Florida, Jaxon has grown up shaving for St. Baldrick’s and he shows no signs of stopping. He’s extra excited for his seventh year of shaving, when he’ll be christened a Knight of the Bald Table.

Despite all the years they’ve shaved together, Greg gets emotional when he watches his son sit in the barber chair.

“I get choked up with it,” he said.

Greg and his son Jaxon shave during a St. Baldrick's event

Greg and Jaxon shaved together for the fifth time this year.

Just as Jaxon’s selfless act inspires Greg, another little boy inspires both father and son to go bald every year — St. Baldrick’s Honored Kid Clinton.

Greg first heard about the Nashville boy through a friend. Touched deeply by the boy’s struggle with brain cancer, every day Greg would follow the family’s updates on their website. When Clinton passed away, Greg was devastated. He knew he had to do something to honor the boy.

Clinton always wanted to be a firefighter, so, as a firefighter himself, Greg did something the kid would have loved. He flew from Florida to Tennessee and showed up at the funeral in his firefighter regalia.

Jaxon shaves his dad's head

Jaxon takes command of the clippers during The Cope Boys’ shave this year.

“I flew up there in full uniform, not even knowing the family, except through the story. Never met them,” he said.

Now Greg, Jaxon and Clinton’s family spend Fourth of July together every year.

“It’s unbelievable,” Greg said, explaining that people often think the friends have known each other all their lives. “It was just one amazing child that we’ve always called Superman that brought us together.”

Greg and his son Jaxon after a shave

Greg and his son shave in memory of Clinton, a Tennessee boy who passed from brain cancer in 2012.

It’s this little boy they never met that keeps The Cope Boys fundraising and shaving year after year. When Jaxon gets asked why he’s bald, he talks about Clinton and his cancer. He tells them about his buddy, Clinton’s younger brother, Max.

“Here’s a 9-year-old who’s living a bigger life in a bigger picture that I didn’t have at 9 years old,” Greg said of his son. “I mean, I don’t have it figured out at 41 years old.”

Over the five years they’ve shaved together, Jaxon and Greg have routinely blown their fundraising goals out of the water, raising almost $8,000 for childhood cancer research.

The best part of the whole experience? Seeing their hard work for St. Baldrick’s turn into childhood cancer research grants that will help kids like Clinton.

“To know that you’re making a difference, and you’re included in that, and you’re helping — that’s amazing,” Greg said.

Take after The Cope Boys and make your difference in the lives of kids with cancer. Register to shave today.

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