Sherryll, a full-time Manager at the House of Wonder, is going to have her head shaved on her 65th birthday to raise money for an $8000 chair needed in the Medical Day Unit (MDU) at Hauora Tairāwhiti.
“When I heard through a friend undergoing cancer treatment that the MDU needed these chairs, I thought this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do for my 65th birthday – I really want this birthday to benefit someone else”
Natasha Ashworth, MDU Nurse Manager said, “It is incredibly humbling to hear that people in the community are motivated to assist our people receiving treatment for cancer. It also assists our nurses who are challenged with the chairs we currently have in the MDU.”
“The DHB are funding some of these special chairs but with so many competing demands on our health dollar it is amazing when the community comes together to assist us.”
"When purchasing chairs for an area like ours, we have many considerations to take into account. Some of which include infection control standards, the ability to adjust the height so our nurses avoid repetitive injuries and most importantly, they need to be comfortable for the people in our care.”
Sherryll said, “This isn’t just about raising the funds for the chair, by shaving my head, it will give me some kind of insight as to one of the things cancer sufferers have to put up with.”
“Our hair is our glory, it is our mane, it’s really important to us. When it’s gone, regardless what it has gone for, it must be pretty devastating.”
“Shaving my head is a small sacrifice and I hope that people in our community can get behind this and help keep the cancer sufferers comfortable when they receive treatment.”
“I am so blessed and honoured to be well and through that wellness I can give back to the people who aren’t so well.”
Sherryll has launched a give a little page to gather donations from the community. You can find the link by clicking here.
“I have also created a Facebook page called ‘Shaving for a Chair’ for people to follow my journey and keep up-to-date about the progress I am making.”