By Kyra Gillespie
It was just a normal school day for Evie Rook, before she was involved in February’s Officer hit and run.
The eight-year-old was one of the seven children injured, along with one adult, when a 21-year-old Pakenham man crashed through the intersection of Cardinia Road and the Princes Highway in a stolen ute on Friday 16 February.
Evie was walking home from her new school St Clare’s with big brother Mitch about 3.30pm when she was clipped on the ear by the fast-moving vehicle.
Now, exactly one month since the terrifying incident, Evie has accomplished her long-standing wish: to shave her head for cancer.
Evie bravely sat in front of all her school peers on Friday 16 March while her Aunty Courtney first cut her pigtails off, and then proceeded to shave what was left of her long curly hair.
Surrounded by family and friends, the brave youngster smiled through the whole thing.
“I was shaking so much I thought I was going to cry!” Evie said with a relived laugh when it was over.
“I’ve wanted to shave my hair for cancer since last year when my friend cut a bit of her hair off to make a wig for cancer patients.
“After the accident it just brought it back to my mind that I really wanted to cut my hair.”
Even though the accident happened over a month ago, the effects are still felt both physically and emotionally by the grade 3 student.
“I remember being hit by something really hard, it was like it was a bad dream.”
“I’ve been healing quite fast, but my knee still hurts a little and my ear starts aching when I hear a loud noise.
“But that’s all,” she adds with a smile.
Evie thinks the best part about having short hair is not having to deal with pesky knots.
“I won’t even have to use a brush – I can just comb it!”
Proud father Teague said he was “blown away” by the generosity of the community.
“After the accident we thought she had enough on her plate, but she was so determined to do it,” Mr Rook said.
“We started with a goal of raising $250 and now she’s reached over $2000.
“It’s just amazing to see the positive come from something so negative.
“The community support has just blown us away.”
As a reward for her brave efforts, Evie’s mum Kylie even said can get her ears pierced.
“I always told Evie that she was only allowed to get her ears pierced when she was 10”, Ms Rook said.
“But I told her that if she did it she could get her ears pierced early.”
For those who still want to donate to Evie’s head shave, visit: https:// worldsgreatestshave.com/ and search for ‘Evie Rook’.
