Brighton woman’s spontaneous headshave raises more than £5,500 for Sussex Cancer Fund

Sarah Hurst knew she would soon lose her hair as a result of her treatment and so made a last minute decision to shave it off in a live online video to raise money for the Sussex Cancer Fund.

Hoping to meet a target of £250, she was stunned when people donated more than £2,500 in a single day.

“It’s just amazing,” she said. “The support I’ve had was phenomenal.”

Many people find losing their hair ‘quite a private thing’, but Sarah said: “I deal with things differently, I’m very open.

“I found it quite liberating doing it and I feel very easy and comfortable going out without any headwear on.”

The 51-year-old founder of Sarah Hurst Skin Clinic in Brighton first became ill in March while in Mexico, where she was spending two weeks before heading to her son’s wedding in San Diego.

After she arrived she felt bloated, and a few days later started to get abdominal pain.

Eventually she went to hospital where a scan revealed two eight centimetre tumours on her ovaries.

“It was a bit of a shock,” she said.

Sarah had to be repatriated and sadly missed her son’s wedding.

She was supposed to be quarantining on her return, but after three days she was so unwell that she was taken to hospital for more tests.

Sarah was booked in for surgery, but after two days one of tumours burst suddenly and she was rushed in for an emergency operation.

“It was all a bit of a drama,” she said.

Sarah has always loved fundraising and in the past has walked part of the Great wall of China for charity, The Inca Trail and through the Cambodian Jungle.

She said of the headshave: “The whole experience turned what could have been an extremely negative experience into something really positive.”

You can still donate by visiting her fundraising page here.