An accident four years ago left former world wakeboarding champion Brad Smeele unable to walk, but his devastating injury and rehabilitation left him committed to helping others.
Smeele is now leading a challenge - 'Keep or Cut' - which will see his family, friends and followers vote on whether he should cut off his flowing locks to help raise awareness and funds for research into spinal cord injury.
The 31-year-old and some of his mates - including extreme sports athlete Jesse James - haven't cut their hair since before Smeele's accident. The idea was to not cut their hair, until the inspirational sportsman walked again.
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"It's been four years and our hair is getting out of control long, so Brad came up with this awesome idea to 'keep it or cut it' to raise awareness and money," James told Newshub.
Smeele was wakeboarding in 2014 in Florida, performing a trick, when he backed out and landed on his neck. He broke his C4 vertebrae, leaving him a quadriplegic.
There's still hope that he will walk again, but the group of friends who promised to grow their hair in support have decided to ditch their locks to help others.
"I went straight to America after Brad's accident, but our friend Brant couldn't make it over and he felt quite helpless, so he said, 'I am going to grow my hair until you walk again'," said James.
"Brad said, 'ok, me too', and then I said, 'I'm on that' and then a bunch of the other boys jumped on it.
"It means so much to me, he's my best friend and after his accident, I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could physically do, so the least we could do is try to raise some money and raise awareness about spinal cord injury."
Smeele is calling for men with long hair, man-buns, top-knots and even long facial hair to volunteer themselves or nominate mates to cut their hair.
"Have hair? Have Instagram? Have a spine? You're eligible," Smeele said.
"It's all about nominating them on Instagram, using the voting poll on the Instagram story to gather the votes over 24 hours.
"Whether you've got long hair or not, if you want to take part, that would be amazing."
With the help from the others driving the movement, Brad believes they will be able to fund ground-breaking SCI research and provide the best chance of bringing movement back to others with similar conditions.
Anyone up for the 'Keep or Cut' challenge, who wants to join Brad and his friends as they "stand for those who can’t", are urged to put their hair on the line by posting an Instagram story with a voting poll, to decide if they 'Keep or Cut' their hair.
"Then nominate at least three people," Smeele told Newshub. "Be sure to tag @movementcollab,
"Nominating without participating? Drop a donation.
"If you choose to refuse a nomination, drop a donation.
"Or just support your mates by donating toward spinal cord injury research at www.keeporcutchallenge.com."
Newshub.
