‘I’m not the brave one’: Officer tackles greatest shave

Meet the Kingaroy constable willing to part with her locks for an incredibly worthy cause.

Constable Connor Miller from the Kingaroy Police Station shaved her head this morning to help raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation through the World's Greatest Shave initative.

YOU might know her as Constable Connor Miller, but after today many will know her as a fearless women who did something selfless for a cause tens of thousands of Australians are touched by each year.

In 2019, it is estimated 4251 Australians were diagnosed with leukaemia.

The risk of an individual being diagnosed with leukaemia by their 85th birthday will be 1 in 55 (1 in 43 males and 1 in 75 females).

After examining her new profile in my iPhone camera and running her fingers through her freshly buzzed cut, Constable Miller sits inside with me at the Kingaroy Police Station and candidly admitted she doesn't think she is the brave one.

"People have come up to me in the shopping centre this week and told me how brave they think I am for doing this, but I think the brave ones are the people who have no choice but to part with their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes and go through with the treatment," she said.

"They don't get to choose what length they want like I did today, they loose everything."

Constable Miller said this was her first time fundraising for a cause like the Leukaemia Foundation and has been blown away by the support of the Kingaroy community.

"When I initially decided to shave my head I spoke to a woman in Toowoomba who told me she got goosebumps right away because her little sister almost died from leukaemia," she said.

"She just said 'thank you so much for doing this' and that's when I realised 'yep, this is why I'm doing it'."

 

Constable Connor Miller from the Kingaroy Police Station shaved her head this morning to help raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation through the World's Greatest Shave initative.

Constable Miller's initial goal of $560 (enough to provide a regional family with a free place to stay close to a treatment facility in the city for a week) was reached in the first three days.

She set herself a new goal of $2000 which is enough to aid future breakthroughs by finding a major blood cancer research project for one week.

She managed to reach her new goal at this morning's shave event thanks to a generous cheque donation of $500 from Barry and Leanne Krosch.

It's not the end for Constable Miller's lopped off locks, which were too short to be turned into a wig.

They will be posted off to be turned into a floating boom, to help absorb oil spills at sea.

"I thought this was just awesome, because I didn't think anything could happen with my hair and it actually does get used for a better purpose, it's not going to waste," she said.

As for what she plans to do with her new 'do', Constable Miller said she was looking forward to wearing it with pride, as well as having much less maintenance to deal with every morning.

"A lot of people said I can cover it up with wigs and scarves if I wanted to, but I think in some ways it kind of defeats the purpose.

"I explained to my daughter that women don't have to have long hair, they can have it however they want - it doesn't matter if other people don't like it, if they like it that's fine.

"I might just need a beanie in the mornings when winter rolls around!"

 

It's not too late to show your support and make a donation to Constable Miller's fundraiser either.

Make an online donation over the next several days by following the link to her World's Greatest Shave profile here.

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