An inspirational mum who has raised £10,000 for a charity in memory of her son had her head shaved to help raise more funds.
Jack Heath, of Bacup, died in June 2013 after a fight against MPS II Hunter syndrome.
In 2014 his mum, Elizabeth, took the bold decision to shave her hair off in a bid to raise over £1,000 for the MPS (Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases) Society - a charity that supported her family through Jack’s plight.
This week, she shaved her head again in the hope of raising more awareness of the illness and further support the charity.
Elizabeth said: “We have been doing fundraising each year and have hosted a series of tea parties. Lockdown kind of put paid to that.
“I wanted to try and get over £10,000 on the tenth anniversary of Jack’s passing and I could do something as I did back in 2014.”
When Jack was diagnosed in 2002 doctors told Elizabeth and dad, Jason, that he would be unlikely to make it into double figures. Jack sadly lost his battle aged 13, having defied doctors’ expectations.
Mucopolysaccharide (MPS) diseases are a family of rare, life limiting lysosomal storage disorders that can affect both children and adults.
Elizabeth said there are still a lot of misconceptions about the illness and what it was.
“People are not aware of the illness and I hope through the fundraising we have been able to educate people about it.
“After an initial 18 months of knowing something was not just right with Jack, he was eventually diagnosed just prior to his third birthday and we were told that most sufferers did not live into their teens and as Jack had the severe form of the disease we would be lucky if he survived to the age of eight.
“If Jack's passing can help make more people aware of these terrible diseases and raise awareness to the medical profession then all his suffering will not have been in vain.
“When Jack was diagnosed, I asked if organ donation was an option, alas it wasn't - I would have given anything to save my son's life - shaving my head will be a small sacrifice to raise awareness of these diseases.”
Elizabeth shaved her head in front of work colleagues at the Bensons For Beds headquarters in Accrington on Monday (April 17). Her hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust which makes wigs for children with cancer.
She added: “I would like to thank everyone who supported me, in particular my family and friends. The MPS society have been really supportive. People have been genuinely generous towards the appeal.
“Thank you to my employer Bensons for Beds for their support and helping to share the appeal.
“A thank also to Kim from Razors in Bacup too for taking her time out to cut my hair!”
If you want to donate to Elizabeth you can do so here
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