‘To help all the people who helped me’ Zak braves the shave in fight against blood cancer

Twenty-four-year-old Zak Drinan has been battling cancer most of his life, but on March 31 he will be taking part in the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave to give a little back to those who have helped him.

Diagnosed with neurofibromatoses at 18 months, it wasn’t long after that doctors gave his mother Donna Lake the bad news that tumours had formed on his optic nerves and they were cancerous.

“All he had was little spots on him and then they said that he’s got neurofibromatoses, and the next time I went back to the doctor, they told me that he’s got tumours and they were cancer, so he had to have chemotherapy,” Donna said. Undergoing treatment, the central line got infected and young Zak was rushed to Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney.

“He’s had a big battle on his hands,” Donna said. “He’s had a really rough time and when he was going through chemo he was really so sick.

“And at the time I didn’t have my licence so my parents were driving me down there and back… back and forth for treatment to Sydney hospital to Ronald McDonald House,” she continued.

“But he’s had a really good support team with me, Mum and Dad, and his two big brothers supported me a lot.

“So we’ve had a bit of a drama and that’s why he just wants to give back and do the World’s Greatest Shave. He said they helped me so he wanted to help them.”

“I’ve been wanting to do it for years,” Zak added. “To help all the people who helped me.”

Zak, who celebrated his 24th birthday on March 15, is currently in remission, but there’s always the fear that the tumours will grow back or new tumours form.

“We’re hoping not because they haven’t shrunk or got bigger, they’re just dormant,” Donna said.

“But he’s so excited to do this, to give back to someone else out there. So that’s why we are trying to do it.”

To help Zak reach his fundraising goal, scan the QR code or visit worldsgreatestshave.com/donate and search for “Zak Drinan”.