Overwhelmed To Say The Least ...

So, as many of you know my amazing former teacher Jayne and Lynne organised “teachers go bald for teenage cancer trust” we had set up a just giving page a few months ago with an initial target of £500 and right now we are currently over £12,000. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in because it certainly hasn’t sunk in yet for me. The shave was to start at 12:45 and I arrived at school for 11:00 to meet with Jayne and Vanessa two lovely ladies from Teenage Cancer Trust. During my time with them Jayne provided an informational talk for all pupils in second year about the signs and symptoms of cancer which I feel is very important and I think the children really payed attention given how real it was since I was a real-life example sitting in front of them. I am still extremely overwhelmed as I felt like a celebrity walking the corridors of my old school! I got a few steps and then got stopped by another person for a catch up. As soon as I walked in the hall I felt my legs go like jelly, there was balloons all over the stage and good luck posters all for me. I genuinely cannot explain the feeling I felt when I stepped up onto the stage and seen what I reckon was every single pupil in front of me plus all the teachers and some ex pupils. For all I went to a pretty small school it was nerve racking. My head teacher stepped up to give a speech to kick the event off and that’s when we all felt a few tears coming. Afterwards it was my time to step up and give my thanks, I had planned to do this all along and it wasn’t my first time speaking in front of a crowd but it certainly was the first time speaking to a crowd of this magnitude and I was shaking like a leaf, but I knew I could do it. Then the buzzing of the clippers started and there was no going back there was 4 people with very beautiful bald heads and 3 lovely ladies with stylish bobs. Knowing how hard it was for me to donate my pony tail I really admire every single person on that stage for their bravery for such an amazing cause. I mentioned in my speech that the way I am treated whilst on the teenage cancer ward in the Beatson is amazing and to have all this extra money going into the units can only excel the service that the charity can provide. I even had the privilege of shaving Mrs Gordon (Jaynes) head and she said I can feel your hands shaking lol, afterwards when everyone was rocking their new haircuts the wonderful compere Mr Clowes said to the hall on the count of 3 can we all say “we will beat cancer” and this is a moment I will never forget in my life, it’s part of my journey with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which will be with me forever for a positive reason. Throughout the afternoon there was numerous events like bake sales, raffles and guessing the teddy bears birthday to help further raise funds. I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Bendoris from the sun newspaper and this furthered my celeb like experience, he complimented my blog and I was shocked that it had reached so many people. As many of you know my rabbit Hodge, Matt and the photographer (please forgive me but I didn’t catch his name) came back to my house and I had a photo shoot with my rabbit! MY RABBIT! It was insane. I felt like a model, at the end of the day however I have total respect and admiration for everyone who cut their hair and everyone who put effort into fundraising for this amazing event and for the rest of my life I will be eternally grateful. All my love, Nicole x