Lysiane Dufour cuts dreadlocks from the head of Matthew
Crane, who was raising Heart Foundation funds in memory of
her son Jean-Philippe. Inset: Mr Crane two days before his
locks were cut.
Dunedin man Matthew Crane has cut off his dreadlocks to
help eradicate the sort of loss experienced by the family of
the late Jean-Philippe Dufour.
On Sunday evening at the Terrace Bar, a crowd of 35 friends
and family watched as Lysiane Dufour, of Dunedin, cut the
locks from Mr Crane's head.
The event was 10 months after Mrs Dufour's 17-year-old son
Jean-Philippe (JP) died suddenly during a football game from
complications caused by an unknown genetic heart condition.
The sponsored hair-cutting raised $3000 for heart research.
"Hopefully, this will help prevent others experiencing the
loss this family has experienced,'' Mr Crane, a senior
aquarist at the Portobello Marine Laboratory, said.
JP was a family friend of Mr Crane's and ‘‘a very mature
young man''.
Mr Crane had wanted to do something to honour JP since his
death and had approached the family with his fundraising
idea.
Mrs Dufour was "amazed'' by Mr Crane's offer. "It is a
privilege to cut his hair,'' she said. "Having a child die
like that is unbelievable.
"I want people to be more aware of genetic heart
conditions.''
Mrs Dufour's late husband, Professor Jean-Pierre Dufour, died
of a suspected heart attack in Lagos, Nigeria, in February,
2007.
Another son had a heart transplant nine years ago after the
discovery of what was thought to be damage caused by a virus.
"We never thought it could be genetic. I now think it is
important that if there is a problem with one person that
they check the other family members,'' Mrs Dufour said.
Heart Foundation heart health advocate Mary Spiers described
Mr Crane's fundraising effort as "fantastic''.
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