Keira takes the chop for St Andrew’s

Most people don’t give going for a haircut a second thought but Keira Esson hadn’t had a proper crop in years.

The Wishaw woman is disabled and spends the vast majority of her days propped up in bed feeling a bit rough.

When the 45-year-old from Craigneuk decided she was going to have her hair cut for the first time in three years, she thought she could also raise money for a good cause.

Keira didn’t paws to think about it and decided that having her locks shorn would be a novel way to raise money for St Andrew’s Hospice.

But instead of going to a hairdressers or barbers she opted instead to have a pet groomer cut it.

And it was horses for courses in preparation for the close shave as Keira’s sister Carla first cut off her ponytail.

Clippers at the ready, dog groomer Janis Speirs was on hand to shave off the rest of Keira’s long locks.

“It’s my first haircut since 2016 and my neck is freezing now,” Keira admitted.

She revealed: “I was going to raise the money for another charity but I was at the hospital and there was a wee woman there trying to get people to sign up for St Andrew’s Lottery and I saw someone being rude to her.

“We got talking and she told me every penny raised stayed in Lanarkshire and that sealed the deal for me.

“I’m bed-bound most of time but the first time I took my dog over to Janis on my mobility scooter she brought her right back to my door.

“She used to be a hairdresser so I asked her to cut my hair.”

Keira went down to Janis’s Perfect Pawz dog groomers in Wishaw for the cut.

“It was easier than doing a dog as Keira never bit me, snarled or peed,” Janis joked.

“If I had a pound for every dog owner whose said to me their dog wouldn’t bite me!

“I had to stress to Keira the clippers hadn’t been used on a dog, I borrowed them from my dad,” she continued.

“I thought she might be teary at the end but she was fine.”

Keira has already raised over £500 through sponsor sheets with more still to come in.

She also has an online fundraising page at: justgiving.com/fundraising/keiraesson

Ready steady go Wishaw woman Keira Esson has her hair shaved of to raise funds for St Andrew’s Hospice. Janis Spears of Perfect Pawz dog groomers did the shaving with Keira’s sister Carla cutting off her pony tail