Leek mum Sarah Stanton shaved her head to raise funds for the medics who helped save her daughter’s life. Sarah, 28, is pictured before the shave with Grace, now two.
MUM Sarah Stanton has had her head shaved to raise funds for the medics who helped save her daughter’s life.
Grace was just five months old when she was rushed to the Royal Stoke University Hospital after contracting sepsis.
And Sarah, of Leek, decided to have her long brown locks completely cut off to raise more than £600 for the University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity to help them buy toys and equipment to help children who have been admitted for treatment.
The 28-year-old, who is donating her hair to the Little Princess Trust, says Grace needed to spend four days on the children’s ward.
She said: “The staff on the children’s ward were amazing. They gave her every test they could. They were so good with her and they kept me and my husband Dean informed all of the time.
“They even gave me bits of food and tried their best not to disturb us when we were sleeping, and they checked on her all of the time.
“I’m raising money for the children’s ward because there are a lot of kids in there and some are in there for a long time and I thought I could raise some money to put towards new toys or better equipment for them.”
Sarah says Grace is now a ‘typical’ two-year-old. The part-time bet365 worker said: “She’s absolutely crazy and she doesn’t sit down. She’s a bit of a daredevil, she’ll try anything, and I can’t thank the ward enough.”
The task of shaving her hair fell to Len Tildsley, principal of Buxton & Leek College where Sarah is studying a PGCE.
The mum-of-one said: “I’ve always had long hair. I’ve only ever had it short once and there’s a reason why it was just the once because I didn’t like it. But it will grow.
“Once they brought the camera out and Len started to cut my hair I got really nervous and I was thinking ‘what have I done?.’
“I decided to do it because I work part-time at bet365, I’m a student and I’ve got a child, so I don’t have time to train for a marathon and I have no particular skills, so I thought this was the best way to raise a lot of money.
“I’m donating the hair to the Little Princess Trust as well, which is a charity that provides real hair wigs to young people that have sadly lost their hair due to illness.
“I thought because I’m shaving the hair off anyway, instead of wasting it I‘d give it to the children who need it.”
Staff at the UHNM Charity have praised her efforts. Sarah O’reilly, fund-raising officer, said: “We are delighted that Sarah is fund-raising for University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity.
“It is people just like Sarah that make things better for our patients, their families and the staff who treat them. Fund-raising helps us to provide important equipment, new facilities and pioneering research and all the important extras that make our care so special.”