94-year-old’s head shave in aid of My WiSH Charity

By her own admission she can’t run, walk or ride a bike in a bid to raise money for charity … but she can have her head shaved.

And that’s just what 94-year-old Toni Gray had carried out at her home in Mildenhall.

The object of the exercise was to raise money for the My WiSH Charity with the money directed towards the Macmillan Unit, at the West Suffolk Hospital, where her son Jaimie is an patient.

The dispatch manager, who lives near his mother, is currently being treated for bowel cancer and is having chemotherapy treatment at the unit following a course of radiotherapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge.

The 61-year-old was first to get hold of the clippers to trim his mother’s locks and was closely followed by his brother Sean, 67, who travelled from his home in Basildon to make it a head shave family affair.

Currently £1,538.75 has been raised by Toni and she’s hoping to increase that total over the coming weeks after initially setting a target of £60.

Toni, who has her hair cut by a mobile hairdresser every six weeks, said: “It’s beginning to grow back again now but having the head shave is really the only thing I could do to raise the money.”

The idea came to her after seeing the Macmillan Cancer Support’s “Brave the Save” campaign as she wanted to do something to thank the staff at the West Suffolk for caring for her son.

Toni said: “Being 94, and not as spry as I once was, I can’t run a marathon or swim the Channel, but I can shave my head for the My WiSH Charity. This is in thanks for the wonderful work by all the staff, charity workers and ancillaries at the hospital.

“It was a bit of a shock when Jaimie was diagnosed with cancer and I did feel hopeless at not being able to do anything and then I saw ‘Brave to Shave’.

“I suffer from arthritis and have sight issues with macular degeneration but having the head shave was quite good fun. Family and friends watched on and we demolished a couple of bottles of wine and it was a bit of an occasion.

“Jaimie said I looked better with the head shave and people that come in and see me now say that I look wonderful.”

Sean said: “My mother just wanted to raise the money for the unit and decided that as she can’t run a marathon or climb a mountain that she would have her head shaved.”

Sally Daniels, fundraising manager, joined the family for the event and said “It was an honour to join Toni and her boys. It was actually a really fun atmosphere and they made a real occasion out of it. The total raised is just phenomenal and will help so many people in west Suffolk who are diagnosed with cancer. Huge thanks to Toni for being such a star”.

Jaimie helps his mum brave the shave for West Suffolk Hospital

 

Written by Russell Cook for My WiSH Charity