Gratitude as stranger shaves her head and raises £900 for little Josh McCormack

Kelly Fenton having her head shaved to raise funds for Josh McCormack

A stranger who was moved to tears by little Josh McCormack’s fight with brain cancer has shaved off her head and raised £900 for him.

Kelly Fenton said she was simply unable to “stand by and do nothing” after she heard about five-year-old Josh, who is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with a rare brain stem cancer last October.

The young boy from Whitworth is undergoing gruelling treatment for a rare form of brain tumour – a battle which is being supported by thousands of people.

Kelly, who said she has never met Josh or his family, insisted that an issue as important as Josh’s doesn’t have to be close to home in order to do something about it.

Appearing at Josh Fest on 29 May, Kelly decided it was time to chop off her locks to show how serious she is about raising funds.

Donations flooded in from home and abroad including online and cash donations, totalling now at just over £900.

Kelly said: “I’d never met any of them but after hearing about Josh’s story I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing.

“The donations that have come in have been amazing.”

She added: “I can't wait to meet Josh when he's better - I don't know him or his parents personally but I feel like I do through following his story. I read his story recently and couldn't let it go.”

Josh's mum Nicola recently thanked everyone for their help and support so far. She said: “A heartfelt thank you from all of us.

"Our hearts are breaking right now. Joshua needs radiation on both his brain and spine. If he makes it through the long term effects are frightful, his skull and spine will never grow again leaving him physically disabled and his memory, thoughts and learning will all be affected causing mental disabilities. This is unpreventable in the attempt to kill the cancer. Radiotherapy on his spine will also have debilitating effects on his tiny growing organs due to the radiation exiting his body. Therefore if he gets through this he will also have numerous health issues.

“As a mum it feels wrong to put him through radiotherapy. We are aware of the long term side effects, these are unpreventable, but as we live in England we have only been offered traditional radiotherapy.

“I cannot thank you enough for what you are doing.”

To donate, visit:

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/kelly-fenton