Riverside teachers show support for educator battling cancer

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — The students of Riverside Elementary School were gathered for a surprise assembly to watch their principal get a fresh new haircut in support of Kris McCarthy, a special education teacher who is currently battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

“When I told him this week that I was going to shave my head, he said he would,” McCarthy said. “It was just overwhelming. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

For the past two years, Kris McCarthy has been battling with cancer that has metastasized to her bones and her liver. On Wednesday, she took the step to shave her head.

“I’m probably on my sixth treatment, different kind of treatment and this is the first treatment that has affected my hair,” McCarthy said. “This week I realized I was losing my hair and I didn’t want to look like a molten chicken, so finally my husband went ahead and shaved it.”

After seeing McCarthy’s new look, head principal Preston Fischer and several other Riverside teachers decided to rock the same haircut in solidarity.

“It was just kind of a spur of the moment thing just to show her that I’m here to support her, and also to model for the kids that we really care and love each other,” Fischer said.

As McCarthy continues her treatment, she knows she can always find a web of support at Riverside Elementary.

“It’s really awesome to see,” Fischer said. “If she has to be gone for an appointment or something she has to go to, or if she’s having a rough day because of the illness, the staff is great about helping to cover anything that she needs covered.”

“The staff is the reason I’m here and it’s the reason I keep working,” McCarthy said. “They’re keeping me going, the kids and the staff and the school are the reason I think I’m still living.”

McCarthy says she told her oncologist that she plans to continue teaching until she is 70 years old.

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