Brave the shave

Hi All, My Name is Melanie and I have decided to shave my head to help support my good friends Kal, Kerrie and their family, this will take place at The White Lion Pub on Saturday 24th September @ 4pm

**Please read Kal & Kerrie’s story below, any donations will be greatly appreciated **

On the 10th April, 2021, I married the love of my life Kal, we had a secret, private ceremony during the pandemic, with only our children by our sides - It was perfect. Everything was finally fitting into place; we had gone on to buy our first home together, whilst Kal was working hard to expand his business.

However, on the 19th April this year, Kal suddenly started suffering with excruciating headaches causing him to vomit and lose his balance. Worried I took him to the doctors, but they sent him home with migraine tablets and told him to rest. That night he took a turn for the worse and I made the decision to take him to A&E. On arrival they warned it could be up to a 20 hour wait, this made Kal reluctant to stay as he was in so much pain, however I forced him because I was so concerned (thank god he listened). After 9 hours of waiting he got up to ask for help, but collapsed and was then rushed through for a CT scan. The results weren’t good, the scan showed two tumours in the back of his head and he was immediately transferred to a specialist hospital.

There he was given pain relief and steroids and his pain improved quickly. He was kept in for observation, whilst they made plans for his next steps. Whilst there, staff observed that Kal was suffering with stomach pains due to constipation and bloating, he told them that he had already seen his GP about this in the January and had been told that this was more than likely IBS; this prompted the consultant to arrange a full-body MRI scan.

When the results came back on the 27th April, our whole life was completely turned upside-down. We were told that that the tumours in his brain were secondary cancer and that the primary source was in his bowel, where they had found a superior size mass – which had also spread to his liver and lungs!!! We couldn’t believe what we were hearing – we just didn’t understand – WHY? HOW? He’s a 33 year old fit and healthy young man, who eats incredibly well – we were in complete and utter shock. We have three beautiful children who adore him so much, how were we even going to be able to explain this horrendous news??

Heartbreakingly, the doctors told us that it isn’t possible to operate as the cancer has spread too far, however they are willing to try radiotherapy and chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumours, so as to give him a better quality of life.

My beautiful husband is a well-known and respected business man in our hometown, running a successful barbers for over a decade; however, since falling poorly he’s been unable to work and this has hit him extremely hard, not being able to provide for his family. However, his courage is inspiring and I am so proud of how he’s dealing with everything.

Kal is determined to try and beat this horrible disease and will not go down without a fight.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

With love from Kerrie & family x