Sheffield mum shaves off hair to raise thousands for Sheffield hospital for treating sick daughter

Sarah Campbell’s five-year-old daughter Emilia was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in July 2021 after several weeks of unexplained pain, and was treated with steroids and chemotherapy on the hospital’s acclaimed cancer and leukaemia ward.

Sarah said: “Everyone we have encountered at Sheffield Children’s has been fantastic, they are so kind and gentle. Emilia feeling comfortable and at ease is always their first priority when we come into clinic or for a procedure.”

MORE: Kavan Brissett: Mural on Sheffield beauty salon wall in tribute to beloved murder victim

To show her gratitude she has raised money for the hospital by through a sponsored head shave, which has raised over £6,000 for The Children’s Hospital Charity, a figure that is set to be doubled by a local business. She let her young daughter get involved with the cut and shave.

MORE: South Yorkshire Police officer arrested for alleged misconduct, corruption and data protection offences

She explains: “I’ve had long hair for years and it was very strange to think of not having it, but it was important to me to let Emilia know that girls don’t have to have long hair, and to show her some solidarity. She loved cutting my hair off! She’d been struggling with being on steroids and this was one of the first smiles we’d had in a while. She doesn’t seem too worried about losing her hair, hopefully the head shave meant she’d had time to come to terms with her hair going too. I really can’t believe how much we’ve raised. I’m so thankful to everyone who has donated and I can’t wait for it to make a difference to children in similar situations.”

Dr Katharine Patrick, consultant paediatric haematologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital said: “We are really grateful to Sarah and Emilia for raising such a huge amount of money. Emilia has had a really tough time over the last few months, and it is now so nice to see her feeling better and her smile returning.

Emilia has now started the consolidation phase of her treatment, having frequent chemotherapy either at Sheffield Children’s or delivered at home by the outreach nursing team. Her treatment is expected to continue until at least November 2024.