Young mum to chop long locks following daughter's brain tumour

Monday 02 October 2017

A young mum is chopping off her Rapunzel-like locks one year to the day that her daughter was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour.

Claudia Barata will this month cut her lengthy tresses, which currently extend all the way down her back, to her chin as part of a fundraising challenge for Jersey Brain Tumour Charity (JBTC).

Taking place on 13 October, the charity bid marks the year anniversary that Claudia’s “world fell apart” when her baby daughter Hallie suffered a seizure shortly after her first birthday.

Hallie was taken straight to A&E where a CT scan revealed the “devastating news” that she had a brain tumour. The family were asked to say their goodbyes as little Hallie was flown to Southampton by a small emergency coastguard helicopter, which did not have enough room for the family to join her. They were forced to spend a restless night of worry before catching the earliest flight out the next morning.

Pictured: Claudia will be getting her lengthy tresses trimmed into a bob to support a charity that helped her daughter, Hallie, through her brain tumour distress, and to help make wigs for children with hair loss.

“When we arrived, Hailie was in a stable but critical condition. They showed us an MRI scan of Hailie’s brain, and when I saw the size of the tumour, it looked huge compared to the size of her head. My instant thought was there is no way she is going to make it,” Claudia explained.

One operation the morning after and months of treatment later, Hallie has fortunately survived the ordeal, albeit left with “minor balance difficulties” affecting her ability to walk.

Claudia now wants to give something back after the "amazing" help Hallie received, and set herself the target of raising £1,500 for the JBTC. She told Express that she had wanted to do something special to raise that money, and that cutting her hair had a special significance for several reasons.

“It’s the only sacrifice at the moment I could make. Family and friends know how much my hair means to me, as it’s taken five years to grow this long, and before then whilst I was in secondary I actually suffered minor hair loss from dying it all different colours. It was only after treatment in Portugal it started to grow back healthy. I used to hate my hair because it is so thick and naturally frizzy, so it was always hard to maintain, but after losing so much it now means so much to me.”

Pictured: Hallie, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour shortly after her first birthday, had been perfectly healthy before suffering a seizure.

And now it will mean so much to someone else, as she’ll be donating it to the Little Princess Trust - a charity that makes wigs for children suffering from hair loss after chemotherapy. Claudia says that she's excited that her hair is so long that it may be able to create more than one wig. "I think it's amazing the way they can make wigs out of donated hair, and just make a child happy to have hair again... When that child could have been Hailie, it's worth it."

Although daunted by the challenge - and the prospect of “looking like a microphone” - Claudia says she’s starting to look forward to it, prompted by seeing an old photo of herself with short hair.

“It's made me bit more excited about cutting so much off… I'm just worried Hailie won't recognise me or miss my hair to play with! But it's for two great causes," she commented.

"It means a lot to raise awareness for both the charities... Hallie was healthy up until the day [she was diagnosed] and it was a complete shock, so more awareness needs to be raised as a brain tumour is serious! You need your brain to function, to live, it controls your whole body and keeps you alive, and people and families need support or to even just find any signs or symptoms of certain behaviour. The charity is there to listen and help and give you more information and more people need to be aware as it is just as important as any other cancer," she added.

Pictured: Claudia wonders whether her daughter Hallie will recognise her with her new 'do.

In less than a week, the "brave" mum is already close to smashing her target, having secured over £1,200 at the time of writing.

A spokesperson for JBTC commented: "We have been supporting Claudia and Hailie and we're so proud and impressed by their determination – we're also delighted that Claudia is raising money and awareness for us in such a bold way. We have been helping more and more families as word gets around about the support that we offer, and all of the money raised helps us to keep the service going and working for people in our community."

You can donate to Claudia's challenge for the JBTC here.