Sheffield bodybuilder shaves off his 20-year-old dreadlocks to raise awareness of cancer

Denton Wilson, 65, of Gleadless, has donated his 20-year-old dreadlocks in a bid to raise vital funds for leading men’s health charity, Prostate Cancer UK and to create awareness of the disease.

He is aiming to raise £1,000,000 after shaving his dreadlocks at DeHood Boxing Centre.

Denton was inspired to take on the challenge for Prostate Cancer UK after tragically losing his father to prostate cancer, then being diagnosed with the disease himself at the age of 42.

Determined to beat the disease, he changed his diet dramatically and took up daily exercise which has completely changed his life.

He went on to appear on Britain’s Got Talent and since then Denton has represented Britain in the World Over 60s Masters Bodybuilding Championship in the USA and has gone on to become No 1 National and World Champion.

Denton also wrote a book about his story called: “A Man Dies Every Hour”, soon to be updated to: “A man Dies Every 45 minutes”, to reflect the most recent stat: ‘1 man dies every 45 minutes from prostate cancer’.

He wants to use his story to inspire others and also says his faith has been extremely important in his recovery too.

Denton said: “I decided to take on the challenge for Prostate Cancer UK because although 1 in 8 white men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, this figure increases to 1 in 4 in black men.

“This made me determined to do something to raise awareness of prostate cancer, particularly amongst the black community, and raise much needed funds for research to make the future a better and healthier place for men and their families.

“It was quite emotional, I’ve had these locks for over 20 odd years.

“I’ve carried these locks, and they’ve seen me through a lot of things in my life.

“I’ve travelled to Jamaica to attend workshops over there and met the Prime minister of Jamaica.

“I’ve been to the Houses of Parliament a few times, so the locks have got a lot of history behind them.

“It was quite eerie, when they did the first snip.

“I felt kind of strange ,and then another lock was cut off,then all of them.

“I had to hold them in my hands while they shaved my head.”

Tracey Pritchard, Director of Fundraising & Supporter Engagement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK and due to the impact of Covid-19, our life-saving research is at risk. However, the continued support of so many wonderfully generous and supportive people, like Denton, has enabled us to protect research into better tests and treatments, to help stop prostate cancer being a killer.

“We want to make prostate cancer something that the next generation of men do not fear and will continue to stand side by side with men and their loved ones. We thank Denton for going that extra mile.”

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