Two years ago the tears on the other end of the telephone simply tore LSU softball pitcher Britni Sneed apart.
The fact they originated from her mother in Houston made the instance almost surreal.
Joann Sneed was calling her oldest daughter in Baton Rouge, then a sophomore, to inform her that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Life for the two would never be the same. The already strong relationship only galvanized from that moment on.
"She's so strong in her faith," Joann Sneed said of Britni. "You can't help but feed off of that. She would always tell me that God was going to take care of me. She was always upbeat and strong for me."
The ordeal of Sneed's mother included radiation treatments. Each visit took a toll on Joann, eventually altering her physical appearance with the loss of body weight and more noticeably, her blonde hair.
Britni took on a prominent role in helping her mother look for a suitable wig to replace her lost locks. Together they stumbled across a salon in Houston that catered to cancer patients.
They picked out a comparable blonde wig that Joann routinely wore, including to all of her daughter's softball games in Baton Rouge. Missing one inning of Britni's game was never an option.
"I had real, blonde hair just like I used to," Joann said. "I didn't always feel very well for the games but I never missed a game because of it.
"I also knew deep down that it had to be hard on Britni," she said. "It had to be hard to keep her focus on the mound. But she seemed to be able to do it."
Sneed flourished in the circle that season, earning second-team All-America honors with a 27-7 record and 1.14 earned run average.
"I was here in Baton Rouge and it was difficult," Britni said. "It was hard to continue my day to day routine. But that's when (former) coach (Glenn) Moore was here and he and my teammates helped. There were a lot of prayers from the community."
The moment not only deepened Britni's already firmly rooted faith, but it also piqued her interest in the cause of donating hair to cancer patients.
Two years later, her mother in remission, she did just that.
Sneed really didn't need any enticement of lunch at her favorite spot -- Chili's -- and Go-Karts rides at Celebration Station. But her roommate Jennie Reeves, a junior catcher, promised the aforementioned rewards if she would trim her lengthy hair that's extended to the middle of her back since grade school.
"We had been talking about it for a while now and she's been letting it grow out," Reeves said. "I told her it was time for a new look, so let's go do it. And her mother was coming in also."
So Reeves drove Sneed last Friday morning at 9:45 to Lock Works she in a matter of seconds a total of 13 inches of her hair were cut. She then donated the hair to Locks of Love, a national charity that makes wigs for cancer patients 18-and-under.
"It was like a game for me," Sneed said. "I was nervous. I had butterflies. But just knowing that I had a chance to help a cause made it worthwhile."
"Nothing she does surprises me anymore," LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard. "I think of all the athletes that I've coached, she's the most giving."
The action taken by Sneed left some of her unsuspecting teammates startled at practice later that day. She went on to defeat No. 21 Georgia twice over the weekend, allowing four hits while striking out 25.
"I think for the cause it's awesome," said Joann, who now sports a short, cropped, spiking hairdo. "I didn't know she was doing it know. I thought she would wait until after the season. It was a shock to say the least, but I'll get used to it."
