BOISE – When 17-year-old Cierra Shaffer was diagnosed with leukemia, she didn’t think anyone from her high school would notice she was absent.
“I got diagnosed and I didn’t think anyone was going to care,” Shaffer said.
After being diagnosed with a progressive form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Shaffer has missed most of her senior year at Fruitland High School.
Instead of studying for finals or attending school dances, Shaffer has spent the last several months undergoing chemotherapy treatments at St. Luke’s in Boise.
But the students and staff at Fruitland High School haven’t forgotten about Shaffer. In fact, many have come to see her in the hospital.
Shaffer’s history teacher, Carly Flowers, came to visit her just after her diagnosis.
“I walk into the room and she is just cracking jokes left and right about it,” Flowers said. “You just know her sense of humor is going to power her through it.”
Flowers decided she wanted to do something to help.
For one week, Flowers stood outside her classroom with a glass jar, collecting donations from students. In exchange, Flowers said she would shave her head.
“It’s just hair,” Flowers said. “It’s just hair.”
In a video posted to YouTube, students are seen shaving Flowers’ head.
“For her to be so willing to do it just for little old me, it really touched me,” Shaffer said. “Because not only is she one of my favorite human beings to be around, but she’s a great role model.”
In total, Flowers’ head shaving raised nearly $1,000.
Other community members have made shirts, put on enchilada dinners and held a band concert to raise money for Cierra.
“They are so supportive,” Shaffer said. “I’ve never lived in a community like that.”
The money raised has gone to help cover expenses like gas to get to and from the hospital.
But it isn’t just money the community is trying to raise.
In a social media campaign in March, St. Luke’s sent out a plea on Twitter, asking former Vice President Joe Biden to attend the Fruitland High School graduation next month.
“Joe Biden is my favorite Vice President in the whole entire world,” Shaffer said. “He does all this cancer initiative stuff which I had no idea about until I got cancer.”
Biden’s son, Beau, passed away in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer.
After making its way around the internet, the original post made its way to Biden himself.
Biden contacted St. Luke’s, and while he wasn’t able to schedule a trip to Idaho, he decided to surprise Cierra by calling her over Facetime.
“You're going to beat this thing,” Biden told Shaffer. “But you have to come and see me in Washington. Have to show you around.”
If you want to support Cierra, you can buy a #CierraStrong T-shirt!