Family haircuts show solidarity for young cancer patient

Eleven-year-old Harper Delellis is battling an optic pathway glioma after being diagnosed in summer 2025. Recently her mom, dad, uncle, and her late grandma shaved their head to show support for the young patient.

"I love my family," Delellis said. "I love how they're like supporting me with it."

Delellis continues to attend school five days a week in addition to weekly chemotherapy treatments at Riley Hospital for Children, where she is under the care of Dr. Alex Lion.

"That was one of the first things I liked about Dr. Lion was from the very first moment he was just like, "Yes this is cancer, no this isn't life threatening. This is something that can be treated, and this is how we're going to do it. You did nothing wrong, like you didn't cause this. It's a sporadic tumor."

Delellis' dad, Ian, first noticed something out of the ordinary for Harper.

"He had taken her to an eye appointment and then I kind of remember getting the message like, 'Hey, we need to go for an MRI now,'" Pettit recalled. "When they said you're meeting with an oncologist, we're like, 'Oh. Okay, that's the direction.'"

While Harper and her mom said she was initially scared of her diagnosis, her battle with cancer has not stopped her from enjoying her childhood, which includes reading and robotics.

"Right now, I'm actually 3D printing," Harper said. "I'm really into Percy Jackson right now, and I'm reading the books. I'm on book four and I'm 3D printing Percy's sword."

Harper and her family are looking forward to both the end of Harper's treatment and their trip to Florida through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.