Protestant woman receiving treatment for cancer tells how she was subjected to a tirade of vile sectarian abuse on her first trip out after losing her hair following chemotherapy
A LONDONDERRY woman who lost her hair during gruelling chemotherapy treatment has spoken of her shock and heartbreak after being taunted by teenagers about her appearance and religion while out walking on her birthday.
Norma, a grandmother in her 60s, said the youths called her “baldy” and “a Hun”, after she had mustered up the courage to go out for the first time on Sunday without her headscarf, three weeks after her hair fell out during treatment.
Norma, who did not want to reveal her surname, is battling incurable multiple myeloma cancer and is awaiting a stem cell transplant.
She said she broke down in tears in the street as the youths shouted cruel abuse just yards from her home.
“I went out to the shops on Sunday. It was my birthday,’ she explained.
“I lost all my hair three weeks ago after a particularly strong round of chemotherapy and I have been really struggling to cope with the changes in my appearance.
“I had decided that on Sunday, if it was a nice day, because it was my birthday, I would venture out to the shops without the scarf that I have been wrapping around my head for a number of weeks.
“People had told me that I looked well without the scarf and my confidence was up for the first time since my hair all went.”
However, her journey out quickly took a sinister turn.
“I was walking back from the shops and these three lads came around the corner,” she recalled.
“I didn’t really take any notice of them.
“They just started shouting at me, all this abuse.
“They shouted ‘Here comes f***ing baldy’ and, ‘Where did you get your f***ing hair cut’, and other names, too, like ‘Hun’.
“It’s all just a blur because I was so, so shocked by what they were shouting and I was so upset.
“I just stood there for a minute in total shock at what they were saying.
‘Then I burst into tears in the street.
“My neighbour came out and put his arms around me.”
Norma said she was “devastated” by the cruel abuse.
She added: “I couldn’t believe that people would do such a cruel thing to me. I came home and I just sat and cried and cried and cried.”
She is still deeply hurt by the jibes, which came as she dealt with the exhausting and brutal cancer treatments, as well as the upsetting changes to her appearance.
“I have multiple myeloma. It is cancer of the blood, bones and bone marrow,” she explained.
“I have just had my stem cells removed and I’m waiting for a room for a stem cell transplant, which will help give me a few years.
“But I will never, ever get better. My cancer is treatable, but it is not curable.
“I was diagnosed in January last year and I have had many gruelling chemotherapy sessions since.
“It has never affected my hair before now.
“I had to have a real horrendously strong blast of chemo before I had my stem cells removed three weeks ago and my hair started to come out when I washed it.
“I was very upset by that. I have been trying to cope with it and it hasn’t been easy.
“I normally wear a scarf around my head when I go out. And this is why it was so awful.”
Norma said going out without her scarf had taken a lot of courage.
She added: “I had spent time plucking up the courage to go out without it. I have loads of scarves to wear, but I just wanted to brave going without it.
“I had put a post up on Facebook, saying I was going to do ‘the full Monty’ and my friends were telling me to go for it, that I looked amazing, because they knew it was such a big step for me.
“It was a warm day on Sunday, so I ventured out without it. That took a heck of a lot out of me to do that, and then that happened.”
Norma said her experience has made her feel awful.
“It has made me feel nervous,” she said.
“What I’m going through at the minute is a life-threatening condition and I can’t take in that this happened to me.
“I feel nervous to go out without my head covered now.
“It has really knocked my confidence. It’s hard to think that someone’s words can make me feel so bad.
“I just can’t understand how someone could be so cruel when this, cancer, could possibly happen to them when their parents or grandparents, or even themselves could get what I’ve got.”
She is now uncertain about whether she will venture out any time soon. “That has left me now with a dilemma, should I go out with a hat or scarf, or should I — like I want to — go without?
“I’m having treatment to save my life, so why should I have to cover up?”
The incident was reported to the PSNI, who were contacted by the Belfast Telegraph for comment but had not responded at time of going to print.