A seven-year-old boy shaved his head in support of his pal with cancer who was losing his hair because he ‘didn’t want him to be alone’.
One day at school, Olly Spencer noticed one of his classmates, Tommy-Lee Hetherington, had lost his hair.
Olly felt compelled to do something to help the young boy. So that night, he came home from Woolden Hill Primary School and asked his mum if he could shave his head in support of his friend.
Here’s young Olly before the cut:
Tommy-Lee, from Anstey, is now in remission after being diagnosed with leukemia in November last year. Since Olly shaved his head, the pair have become best friends.
The kind-hearted pal told Leicestershire Live:
I came home from school and asked my mummy if I could shave my head, so Tommy-Lee wasn’t the only boy in school with no hair. Tommy-Lee has become my best friend. We play and work together at school.
When Tommy-Lee had no hair, it made me feel sad and I didn’t want him to be alone. I wanted to help Tommy-Lee as he has cancer and I wanted the cancer to go away. I raised money for the charity that supports him and others by shaving my head, so we could both be bald together.
We are best friends and always look out for each other in everything we do. Tommy-Lee will always be my best friend and I will support him wherever I can.
As well as shaving his head to support Tommy-Lee, Olly has managed to raise £1,200 for Macmillan to help other sick youngsters at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Here’s Olly after the cut:
When Tommy-Lee was diagnosed, it ‘devastated’ his family, turning their lives upside down.
His mum Kelly said:
Tommy-Lee was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which was totally unexpected. It devastated our family and turned our lives upside down overnight. They told us his treatment will last for three and a half years.
He started his chemotherapy immediately with an intensive stage of steroids, blood transfusions and lumber punctures. But through every stage he has been upbeat and taken everything in his stride, a real brave little soldier who doesn’t deserve this cruel illness.
During his treatment, Tommy-Lee battled sepsis, a collapsed lung and an enlarged pancreas. While it was a huge shock and put a strain on the family, he ‘continues to be a very happy, positive little boy and he amazes’ his mum every day.
Kelly said she was so proud of Olly for what he did: ‘It was an awesome thing to do. I’m so very proud of Olly – he’s a smashing little lad.’
Olly’s mum Sally said:
Olly has always been helpful to his peers. Tommy-Lee started school in the new term and Olly went out of his way to ensure he felt welcomed and not alone.
When Olly made friends with Tommy-Lee, he soon realised something wasn’t right. He came to terms with knowing Tommy-Lee was ill, but didn’t know what the illness was.
After several days he came home from school and said: ‘I want to help people like Tommy-Lee, I don’t want him to be at school alone with no hair, I want to shave my head.’
This sparked the idea for Brave the Shave, and as soon as people heard Olly and Tommy-Lee’s story, people started to donate.
Sally added: ‘We are all so proud of Olly, not only for being brave enough at his age to carry out such a daring event but also supporting his friend in a way that only true friends can.’
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.