Mum and daughter donate hair to charity in memory of much loved dad

Sarah Marshall and daughter Matilda 9, are donating 12 inches of their hair to Little Princess Trust who work with children who have lost their own hair during treatment for the disease.

They are fundraising for the trust in memory of husband and dad Nigel who died just a year after he was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of brain tumor.

Sarah said: “Matilda decided a couple of years ago that she'd like to grow her hair for the Princess Trust. In September 2019 her daddy was diagnosed with a very aggressive brain tumour. He died in June 2020. She asked me if I would grow my hair too so that children with brain tumour and other cancers wouldn't have to have no hair as a result of their treatment.”

Nigel died aged 47 on June 22 2020 in the midst of the covid pandemic.“Because of his tumor and chemo he ended up with blood clots and a bleed on his brain, “ said Sarah.

“They gave him 18 months to live but he only managed nine. He was treated at Weston Park Hospital.”

“Nigel really badly deteriorated from Easter last year. He was in hospital twice so I couldn’t go so every time. He went in with one thing and came out two weeks later but I hadn’t seen him and he had really deteriorated in that time.

“At the end, they phoned me on the Thursday to say he had taken a turn for the worst. But I couldn’t leave the hospital because if I did I couldn’t come back for 24 hours because of the covid restrictions. The kids couldn’t come as we were allowed one other person. His dad was with him when he died.

“For his dad it was a blessing because he’s 86 and being there put his mind at rest that it was peaceful.”

Sarah and Matilda of Dinnington have have been growing their hair all through lockdown and are booked in for the big chop on Thursday 3rd June at Innovation hairdressers in South Anston, on June 3.

You can help Sarah and Matilda here on their just giving page