Daughter's £2,000 vow to shave her head in memory of father

Helen Miles, 43, of Three Bridges, wants to help find a cure for cancer after her father died four years ago and her mother was diagnosed with cancer last April.

She said: “It’s an awful disease. It affects so many people. It’s devastating.”

Helen’s father Clive Thomas, died aged 69, after a five year battle with the disease.

He had an operation and chemotherapy but the disease returned to his lungs, liver and brain.

He had all three organs operated on, further chemotherapy and gamma knife surgery which aims to provide very precise gamma radiation to kill cancer cells.

Helen said: “That seemed to do the trick but then it came back in his brain.

“He was wheelchair bound. He could talk but his memory wasn’t good. The only person he could remember was me and the boys.”

Helen’s mother Wendy Thomas was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney last April.

She had an operation to remove the kidney but found out at the beginning of January the cancer had come back in two areas of her body.

She started chemotherapy this week.

Helen said it was hard for her mother to remain positive after watching her husband lose his battle.

She said: “When your told you’ve got the Big C, you think that’s it.”

The mother-of-three has vowed to shave all her hair off as soon as she manages to raise £2,000 for cancer.

She will donate her hair to the Little Princess Trust, which makes real wigs for children suffering from hair loss.

She has already raised about £550.

To donate to Helen’s cause visit: www.justgiving.com/helensheadshave2014