Shave and a Haircut--True Grit

For the past 20 years, Anaheim firefighter Fernando Negrete had a mustache and full head of black hair.

But that changed Monday when Negrete and more than 100 other firefighters--including the fire chief--shaved their heads for a good cause: to support co-worker Bobby Cournoyer, 34, who lost his hair after treatments for leukemia. Negrete and others even shaved their mustaches to help raise awareness about the disease and need for bone-marrow donors.

“It shows how a tragedy can turn into something positive,” said Negrete, running his hand over his newly shaved head.

At Fire Department headquarters, firefighters whooped and hollered as the clippers buzzed and mounds of hair tumbled to the ground.

“This is the minimal I’d do for Bobby,” said Fire Chief Jeff Bowman, 46, recalling he was 12 the last time he shaved his head.

Diagnosed with leukemia on Valentine’s Day 1995, Cournoyer, a 10-year firefighter, took medication to fight the disease into remission. But on Feb. 14, he learned the leukemia was back and that he would need a bone-marrow transplant, which he received seven weeks ago at the City of Hope in Duarte.

Cournoyer said he was lucky because his donor was his sister, Terry Tripodi, of Garden Grove. Cournoyer and his wife, Erin, 33, are staying at Hope Village, a studio-like apartment at the hospital, where he continues to receive follow-up treatment. They plan to return to their Laguna Niguel home by July 2.

After shaving their heads, a few firefighters drove to show Cournoyer their looks.

Cournoyer, wearing a surgical mask to protect his immune system, greeted his co-workers with tears.

“It’s a great boost,” Cournoyer said. “It makes me feel I’m not alone in this fight.”

He also joked, “Where did you get all the barbers?”

Cournoyer, who has lost 30 pounds and no longer has a mustache, told his fellow firefighters that he is looking forward to getting back to work: “I miss you all very much. I know I’ll be back.”