Tracy Young has been providing luxurious hair to Santa Monica for decades, and the community has responded to provide for the beloved business owner.
Young, who owns the Oceana Salon within The Shores apartment building, was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer, forced to have a third of her lung removed and take on four months of chemotherapy treatment. Now scheduled for an intensive radiation treatment and immunotherapy, Young’s close friends have set up a GoFundMe page to aid with living expenses.
The GoFundMe campaign has raised $29,190 as of Sept. 12, with a total goal of $100,000 set. Organizing the endeavor was the aptly-named "Team Tracy," helmed by Oceana co-owner Suzy O’Donnell and close friend Christine Shanley. Young and O’Donnell have owned Oceana for 20 years, forging a lifelong bond after meeting at a salon in 1990.
Moving from Belfast, Ireland in the early 1980s, Young has been a hairdresser in Santa Monica since, including owning a previous salon spot on Montana Ave. before diving into Oceana. O’Donnell noted that business has changed "quite dramatically" over the years, and the Oceana model now consists of people within The Shores renting out chairs in the space.
Young’s health unfortunately changed as well, taking a downtown recently before the lung cancer diagnosis. Shanley recounted how her friend suffered a pinched nerve in her neck, followed by a bout with gastrointestinal condition diverticulitis. A CT Scan of her body while she fought the infection was how doctors found an initial "black spot" on part of her lung.
"She was in the middle of five other health things at the time, so they said, it’s so small … let’s just wait," Shanley said. "Let’s keep an eye on it. And that was a year and a half ago."
The situation grew more dire, however, with cancer found in three of four removed lymph nodes in conjunction with the lung removal. Young thought going into the operation that the cancer was at Stage 1, and left knowing it was Stage 3.
"Tracy has been a sturdy girl her whole life, she’d never get sick," O’Donnell said. "So this has been like a tidal wave of stuff that’s come her way."
Team Tracy became more active in helping their namesake, hosting a "chemo kickoff" party before her first round of treatment and making a text thread to keep people informed of their decision. Any task Young has needed done, such as grocery deliveries and laundry, the united friend group has been at her side.
"It’s been kind of an effort, (but it’s) fortunate that she has (us), because I don’t know that she would have gotten through this without all of us around her," Shanley added.
Initially saying "no way" to the GoFundMe, Young’s confidants reinforced her importance to the community, because as Shanley puts it, "hairdressers know everybody."
"I said to her, she’s got wonderful, wonderful clients and they’re so generous and sweet," O’Donnell added. "And a lot of our clients, it’s amazing how wonderful they’ve been. It’s a chance for them to help. I think there’s people out there that want to help other people that are struggling."
To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visithttps://www.gofundme.com/f/support-tracy-youngs-battle-with-lung-cancer.
