A meteorologist battling cancer has slammed a viewer who sent a “hateful email” to the entire newsroom about her wig.
Laura Mock, 33, a Fox 23 weather presenter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in May and began chemotherapy shortly after.
As a result of the treatment, her hair began to fall out, so she recently decided to shave it off and wear a wig while on deployment.
Recently she was shocked when someone who watched her show decided to send a negative message about her fake hair to her and all her colleagues.
Laura announced on Facebook last week that an audience member had sent an email to all employees of the news outlet, containing a poisonous comment about her hair.
She shared a screenshot of the email, with the subject line: Laura Mock.
A meteorologist battling cancer has slammed a viewer who sent a “hateful email” to the entire editorial team about her wig
Fox 23 weather presenter Laura Mock, 33, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in May and began chemotherapy shortly after.
As a result of the treatment, her hair started falling out – so she recently decided to shave it off and wear a wig while on air. She has been seen wearing the wig
“Can she stop playing with her hair and do it again? It looks like she added fake hair,” it said, in all caps.
Laura added a powerful message to her hater about body shaming to her post.
“News flash, it’s fake,” she wrote. “I started losing my hair in late June (thanks to chemo!) and have been wearing a wig for a little over a week now.
‘Think twice before sending hate mail to your local news talent. This one was to our entire newsroom.
“Do I mind? Not really. I have thick skin and other things to worry about, like the cancer I’m trying to kick out of my body. That doesn’t mean I have to tolerate comments like this.”
The 33-year-old also uploaded a photo of herself sharing the weather forecast while wearing the wig, and another of herself proudly holding the wig up for the camera.
While discussing the incident with the Today Laura explained that she decided to talk about it in the hopes of helping others who may be victims of online bullying.
“There are women who get these kinds of comments every day, and they may not be battling cancer, but they are battling other things in their lives. We don’t deserve for this to happen,” she said.
But Laura (in the wig) was shocked when someone watching her segment decided to send a negative message about her fake hair to her – and to all of her colleagues
She shared a screenshot of the email via Facebook, and it read: ‘Can she stop playing with her hair and do it again? It looks like she added fake hair’
Laura added a powerful message to her hater about body shaming to her post
Laura is very open about her diagnosis and shared this on the radio shortly after she started her treatment.
She described shaving her hair as “liberating” and added that despite the horrific email, she is not ashamed of having to wear a wig.
“It’s not perfect – it’s obviously a wig – but it does make me look normal to other people,” she explained.
“I’ve been inundated with positive feedback. There aren’t many negative comments, but when the negative ones come in, they definitely stand out.”
She concluded with a statement to anyone considering posting a nasty comment or sending a negative message to a public figure or someone they see on TV.
“The people you see on your local TV are just that: we’re people too. We’re going through our own struggles day by day,” she continued.
“If our makeup and hair aren’t perfect, give us grace. You don’t know what our morning was like, what our week was like.”
During a conversation about the incident on the Today show, Laura explained that she decided to talk about it online in hopes of helping others who may be victims of online bullying.
“There are women who get these comments every day, who may not be battling cancer, but they’re battling other things in their lives,” she said. She’s seen it during treatment
Laura’s Facebook post was flooded with messages of support
Laura’s Facebook post was flooded with messages of support.
“You are beautiful. With hair. Without hair. With a wig. Without,” one person wrote.
“Anyone who is hateful enough to send an email like this has something deeper within themselves that they need to think about first instead of being keyboard warriors. People need to choose kindness.”
“I love that you posted a picture of yourself holding the wig. It made me laugh and I could feel your humor through the picture. You can do it,” added another.
“People are definitely unhappy and bored. You are beautiful! Keep rocking,” cheered someone else.
“You did a good job on that hair, girl. Keep shining,” read a fourth comment.
A fifth said: ‘I’m so sorry. Thank you for the reminder that we only need to love and support others, not tear them down.’