By Helen Hyland, Fundraising Manager, ME Association.
It took a huge amount of courage for Katie Cooper, aged 13, to have her head shaved for M.E.
Katie was diagnosed with the disease in June 2017 after having glandular fever. She also suffers with anxiety which makes her achievement all the more remarkable.
The headshave took place on July 6th in her back garden. Her mum, Stephanie, a trained hairdresser, did the shaving. No noisy salon with its usual hustle and bustle, no stress, no hassle.
Just mother and daughter quietly working together to minimise the impact of the challenge on Katie’s health.
Everything had to be planned carefully so that she could feel comfortable while doing this brave deed for charity.
As well as raising funds for M.E., Katie then kindly donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust.
For someone so young, Katie’s days have been limited since being diagnosed with M.E.
She is too unwell for school and even trying to study or read at home for 20 minutes, makes her feel very unwell.
As she put it: “I am not well enough for school and feel sad that I can’t be normal.”
Katie did this fundraiser to raise funds for research and in the hope that more people could understand what she and other M.E. sufferers are going through.
Writing specifically about her challenge, and the impact on her appearance, Katie wrote:
“Beauty does not come from what you look like, what your clothes look like, or what your hair looks like. Beauty comes from the heart.”
Helen Hyland says, “Katie is such a fundraising star. For any young girl, shaving her hair for charity is a massive deal. It takes real guts to go through with it.
“I have always advised fundraisers to write from the heart and Katie has well-and-truly done just that with her campaign.
“She nearly brought this hardened old fundraiser to tears when I read her story. What a beautiful lesson to us all.”
Not dropping any hints but Katie’s fundraising page remains open, so if you would like to show your appreciation for everything that she has done by donating, then head over to her JustGiving page.
The ME Association
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