Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am doing this because (as some of you well know) my best friend and sister-in-law, Kate, has become ill in the last year. She is currently in hospital, where she has now been for 2 months- firstly in intensive care and then a series of different wards. She will soon hopefully be going to rehab (the physio kind, not the Amy Winehouse kind) to rebuild her muscles. Kate has been diagnosed with Dermatomyositis - its very rare, she actually IS one in a million.

Basically its an inflammatory and muscle weakening disease that comes from your immune system not working properly. Her muscles have all been 'under attack', meaning she has gone through months of pain, breathing problems, weight loss due to not being able to eat, and a number of nasty sounding procedures and drugs to try and help.

Kate has now turned a corner, thanks to a mix of chemo and REALLY expensive drugs. She has a long way to go, but has come so far and managed to stay positive and has been stronger than we ever could have imagined (and still making jokes with it).

Now, to top it all off, she has begun to loose her hair from the chemotherapy. She isn't bald, but it got me thinking about how anyone going through that doesn't have a choice. So I am now giving up my hair, which many of you know has been my pride and joy/safety blanket for a long time. I am also going to donate my hair to a childrens cancer charity so it can be made into a wig- double charity hit! You may wish to come watch the event (but probably not), All I really want is for a little donation (and it really can be little) to this awesome charity, who supports people like Kate and those around them. Dermatomyositis doesn't have a cure, and its impossibly hard to see someone you love in any sort of pain, as probably everyone knows. Plus you'll all get a laugh at my expense, so please please please!

 

The boring bit.....

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.