New hope for library

SISTERS Mandy and Natalie Milham are sharing more than a new hairdo.

When 27-year-old Natalie was critically ill and on dialysis, Mandy, from Isfield, came to the rescue offering her younger sister one of her own healthy kidneys.

And to cheer up both women after their gruelling operations, mum, Gwen, has traded her time doing a weekly stint with a local brain injury centre for two new hairdos for her daughters.

Gwen rang the TV programme Do Us a Favour offering to be a time-giver by helping at Headway Hurstwood Park in Newick if a top hairdresser would wave a wand over her daughters coiffures.

Brighton hairdresser, Gary Forde, from Toni and Guy salon, gave up his day off to come to the family home in Hillman Close, Lewes, and treat both sisters to a bang-up-to-date new look.

Mother of three teenagers, Mandy, 40, whose married name is Fingerneissl, had her long blonde hair trimmed into shape, while brunette, Natalie, was snipped into a fashionable bob.

Mandy is the most wonderful sister in the whole world and I will be indebted to her for the rest of my life , said Natalie, who is recovering well from her ordeal, despite trips to St George s Hospital in London three times a week for follow-up treatment.

Their brother, Nathan, spends two days a week at the Headway centre, which provides day-care for people with acquired brain injury.

Nathan, now 22, was in a coma for a year after he was knocked down by a car while he was head boy at Ringmer Community College.

I ll be going along to help on the days that Nathan isn t there, said Gwen, who was looking forward to taking her daughters out to lunch at The Cock Inn, Ringmer, to show off their new look.