Trying to bring her home: Algonquin salon raises money for NIU nursing grad with bone cancer

Hair extensions in all colors of the rainbow, including pink, orange and blue, hang by a mirror and Salon 37 in Algonquin. The extensions are part of a fundraiser to help cover medical costs for a 24-year-old Algonquin woman battling Stage 4 bone cancer.

Anna Brobbey is in a Chicago hospital battling the cancer that has spread to her spine and cannot be treated. A 2018 Dundee-Crown High School graduate, Brobbey earned a nursing degree last year from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Salon 37, at 1415 Commerce Drive, does an annual fundraiser with pink hair extensions for a local family or person in the community. This year, the business is offering any color extensions to “raise as much money as possible” for Brobbey, owner Julie Grosse said.

Each color represents a different type of illness or cancer, so donors can personalize their reasons for giving. People can donate by buying a $15 hair extension or can contribute any amount to put up a pink or yellow ribbon on the salon’s ribbon tribute wall in honor of a loved one.

Brobbey was chosen as this year’s recipient after Salon 37 stylist Cat Rodriguez, a Brobbey family friend, suggested her. Rodriguez was neighbors with Brobbey’s family since Anna was 10 years old, and Anna is close friends with Rodriguez’s daughter, Lexi, she said. She describes the family as giving and always looking to help others.

“They are always wanting to spread love,” Rodriguez said. “They are always positive.”

Brobbey was diagnosed in January after she went to the doctor for leg pain and a tumor was discovered on her sciatic nerve, Rodriguez said. Multiple surgeries were performed, but the cancer had spread to her bones. Her family and friends hope the fundraiser can help cover hospice costs so she can receive care at home.

“We just want her home so we can be with her,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want her staring at cement walls.”

Friends of the family recently created a GoFundMe to help cover at-home hospice care: bit.ly/BrobbeyGoFundMe. The online fundraiser has collected almost half of the $20,000 goal.

Salon 37 started its fundraiser on Oct. 2 and will go on until the end of November. The team have raised about $2,000, so far, Grosse said.

The salon started annual breast cancer fundraisers about 18 years ago and soon after switched to fundraising locally for specific people. In the past, the salon has raised anywhere between $800 to $12,000, Grosse said.

“We realized there are people in the community that needed the money,” she said. “We’ve all known so many people that have struggled with cancer or some illness,”

People can also support the fundraiser for Brobbey at Stylette Hair Studio, at 10399 Vine St., Huntley. For details about how to donate, visit either of the salon’s websites at salon37.com and stylettehairstudio.wixsite.com/stylettehairstudio.