Mother shaves head to avoid a run

Hermitage woman, Pam Dunn, is raising money for Clic Sargent after her son Jack was diagnosed with a tumour

‘EVERYTHING goes out of the window - your breath goes' is how a Hermitage woman described the moment when doctors told her that her son was suffering from a brain tumour.

Pam Dunn's nine-year-old son Jack was diagnosed with a tumour last November.

Mrs Dunn said: "It's indescribable when someone says that about your child. Everything goes out of the window, your breath goes.

"Nobody ever wants to hear that about their child and you want to take it on yourself."

And one of the ways Mrs Dunn, aged 33, has taken on Jack's illness is by having her head shaved and dyed to raise money for charity Clic Sargent which has provided inavaluable support to her and her family.

Mrs Dunn explained that two years ago, Jack was diagnosed with Diabetes Insipidus which controls the fluid levels in the body. This resulted in his hormones starting to fail. Through regular hospital scans due to monitor this condition, the doctors started to notice a change in Jack at the end of last year.

Mrs Dunn said: "They tried to diagnose what it was through lumbar punches but they could not clarify it without a biopsy which involved major surgery.

"That confirmed what it was."

She added: "You take three or four days to get use to it, then you get more knowledge and then the treatment starts and then you think it's going to be ok.

"It was really awkward because we just lost my father-in-law to cancer.

"We didn't mention cancer, we just told him that he was going to have medicine but the doctors told us to be honest with him.

"He was ok with it, he doesn't mention it."

She said that from the time that Jack was diagnosed, Clic Sargent, helped with initial costs, providing support, help with filling out forms, respite accommodation and advice. "They try to keep a really, really abnormal situation as normal as possible."

Mrs Dunn's head shave took place last Sunday (20) at The White Horse Pub, Hermitage and has so far raised £1,192.82.

Jack is currently having chemotherapy in three week cycles at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and will then undergo radiation treatment.

She said: "I did the head shave out of laziness.

"I thought about doing a run but I could not have possibly done it with all the (hospital) appointments.

"I was a bit nervous beforehand but it was fine."

You can still donate to the cause by clicking the link below.