Head shave raises cash for charity

A 'BALD' move was taken by one Plymouth woman after members of her family suffered from cancer.

Jacqueline Parsons, aged 49 from Manadon, says she was spurred on to have her head shaved after losing her mother-in-law to lung cancer and her father suffering bowel cancer.

HAIR TODAY: Jacqueline Parsons before the head shave, top left, and, above, braving the razor. Left: Jacqueline holds some of her shorn hair cut by Nicola Gibbons, from Headways (lower right)

She said: "Unfortunately we lost my mother-in-law two years ago to lung cancer.

"Dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer. That's what spurred me on after I had to go to the hospital with him when he had chemotherapy.

"It's been a rocky road but he (dad) is getting there."

Jacqueline's dad is Alf Hawke aged 71. She has two daughters, Summer and Zoe, and is married to Ken, who also had his head shaved in support of her fundraising efforts which so far has raised £1,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Nicola Gibbons, of Headways hairdressers in Manadon, had the task of shaving Jacqueline's head of hair.

Jacqueline, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, added: "I had to think of something I could do that wasn't strenuous. I wasn't nervous and I got an adrenalin rush when my head was being shaved.

"My family and friends came to support me. I know the girls at Headways quite well and they were really supportive."