By DANIELLE GALVIN
AMANDA Hawker and her daughter-in-law Bec Hawker might be able to feel the cold a bit more this winter, but the motivation for shaving their heads was reason enough not to care.
It was an emotional and touching moment when Amanda, who lives in Bunyip, and Bec, who lives in Drouin, had their heads shaved on Saturday at Ruby Red Hair and Beauty in Pakenham to raise money for a cause that has touched their lives.
Amanda’s nephew Pete Hardie-Porter, 34, married the love of his life Sarah in 2011 and has battled a brain tumour for 10 years. He was diagnosed on 1 April 2003 with an Oligoasto Cytoma and he went in for major surgery just days later.
Pete’s cousin Tayte Lindsay said she was told that the surgeon couldn’t get it all out because it was too close to his brain stem and optical nerve.
“He had multiple strokes during this operation and woke up completely paralysed down his left side, he was moved to full time rehab and had to learn to walk and talk and everything,” she said.
“He can no longer drive due to permanent loss of partial sight in his left eye.”
This year, Pete was told that the tumour had grown and spread to other parts of his brain and that the diagnosis was terminal. There are plans for expensive treatment, at an initial cost of $5000 plus ongoing costs.
In lieu of the devastating news, Tayte started a Facebook page called ‘Raising some coin for Pete’.
“My aunty Amanda Hawker said if I could raise $2000 she would shave her head, well we reached that goal in about 10 minutes, then Amanda’s daughter-in-law Bec Hawker said if you can raise $6000 I’ll do mine too, well 48 hours later we had reached our goal,” Tayte said.
“We had a hairdresser from Ruby Red in Pakenham donate her time to shave the girls’ heads.
“It was quite emotional as they were shaving their heads, knowing what it was for, trying to raise money for my beautiful cousin.”
To date, about $7500 has been raised and the generosity of strangers has been overwhelming for the family. One anonymous donor donated $2000 for the cause.
With eight-month-old twins Noah and Bailey and older sister Breea to contend with, the Hardie-Porter’s rising medical bills were skyrocketing – that’s why the family has rallied and fund-raised for the cause.
To donate, email mainstreamcabinets@hotmail.com or visit the Facebook page for more information.
