Daughter Shaves Head in Solidarity with 'Warrior' Mom Whose Stage 4 Cancer Was Misdiagnosed as IBS

Sophie Mulcahy surprised her mom, who is undergoing chemotherapy, by running the hair clippers through her own hair

When Tracy Mulcahy headed to the Bambi Blonde salon in Bunbury, Australia, she wasn’t going in for a standard hair appointment.

Tracy, 45, was going to have her head shaved by her daughter Sophie; The mom was recently diagnosed with stage 4 high-grade ovarian cancer, which according to a GoFundMe “is treatable, but not curable,” and she started chemotherapy treatments.

But when her daughter Sophie stood behind her with the clippers, ready to shave her mom’s head, Sophie quickly ran the clippers through her own head instead, as shown in an Instagram video shared by the salon.

“Tracy and Sophie have been long time clients of ours for the whole seven years I have had the salon. Tracy & Sophie aren’t just clients, we have created such a bond that these beautiful girls feel like family,” the post’s caption read.

“Receiving the call from Tracy that she has been diagnosed with stage 4 high grade ovarian cancer was absolutely gut wrenching," the salon's post continued, "How? How can this be true? How can someone so beautiful, so loving and so bloody wonderful be diagnosed with something so so so sh—!?”

Turns out, Tracy’s journey to her diagnosis was a long one, as according to the GoFundMe: “Tracy had been telling doctors of a heavy sensation in her stomach for a long time, constantly being brushed off and it put down to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),” which the Mayo Clinic says can cause abdominal pain and bowel changes.

Then, night sweats were dismissed as symptoms of perimenopause — 18 months ago.

Related: 25-Year-Old with Ovarian Cancer Reveals Symptoms Dismissed by Doctors

Last November, Tracy contracted COVID-19, suffering severe pains on her right side.

“She was still going to the gym and attempting runs but was struggling to get air in and running out of breath prematurely,” the GoFundMe explains, adding that a month after having COVID-19, “Tracy was now struggling to even hold a conversation without gasping for air. She went to her GP and he sent her for urgent blood tests to check for infection and/or blood clots. Within a couple of hours he rung her back saying she needed to go for an urgent scan… Infection markers were low but blood clot markers were elevated.”

The scan revealed a “large, right sided, pleural effusion” — which the Cleveland Clinic explains is a collection of fluid around the lungs — and Tracy was admitted to the hospital, where they drained three liters of fluid. The fluid was tested and Tracy was given the dire news: “It was cancer and it had come from the female reproductive tract” and then metastasized to her lungs.

As the Mayo Clinic says, with ovarian cancer, “cells multiply quickly and can invade and destroy healthy body tissue.” Symptoms include bloating in the abdomen, weight loss, pelvic area pain, fatigue and back pain.

Tracy's scheduled for more chemotherapy, but a “long-term plan” for treatment still needs to be established.

But as the salon’s post pointed out, when Sophie shaved her head in solidarity, “If you were in the salon you would have felt the emotion in this moment, the whole salon was in tears. Beautiful Soph decided to surprise Tracy (her Mum) with this moment 😭❤️”

Tracy’s son, Oliver, and husband, Martin, also shaved their heads.

Related: Olivia Munn Is 'Grateful' for Support After Breast Cancer Diagnosis: 'Meant a Lot to Me'

As Bambi Blonde posted, “Tracy - you are a warrior, you are so so strong and such an amazing person, your determination is incredibly inspiring and I hope to god for some sort of miracle ✨"

"Soph - your Mumma is so incredibly lucky to have you by your side, you beautiful girl.”

The salon ended their post with this warning: “Please take this as a friendly reminder to get yourself checked, if something isn’t feeling right please push to get checked again & again until you have the answers you want. Xx.”

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