KIND-HEARTED Bernie Chant admitted she is ‘a little bit nervous’ to be facing the chop but isn’t backing out of her head shave efforts to raise funds for seven-year-old family friend Amy Rose.
When Amy Rose was born, she went into toxic shock which resulted in Hypoxic-Ischaemic-Encephalopathy and left her with athetoid/dyskinetic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
Her daily needs are extremely complex and family friend Bernie, 62, is hoping to do her part to help by braving a charity head shave next month to raise money for an Eye Gaze system.
Eye Gaze systems are the world’s most advanced eye-driven communication systems and enable locked-in users to communicate with the world via robust, accurate eye tracking devices and software.
Bernie said: “Every year at the artisan markets, I always do something to raise money for charity; sometimes I donate 100 per cent of the profits or other times I’ll donate a smaller amount.
“But this year I wanted to do something at little more drastic for Amy Rose, who is the granddaughter of a friend of mine, to help purchase an Eye Gaze system for her to use at home.
“She has a lot of complex needs and requires 24-hour care, but the lockdown period has put a huge amount of pressure on the family.
“Things we take for granted, like going out for a walk, have become impossible. Her carers haven’t been able to visit her house and vital services that give the parents a break have been unavailable.
“For them it has been a very lonely and isolated time but their commitment to their little girl has been amazing, and I just want to raise as much money as possible to help them.”
Bernie originally wanted to put her plan into action on July 13, however with the recent announcement that restrictions would not be lifted until July 19 she may have to change that plan.
She said: “I’ve not been able to settle on a venue to do the shave but with restrictions still in place I may move the date, potentially to August 1.
“Whichever date it ends up being, I will absolutely be doing it. I’ve never done anything like this before so I am a little bit nervous to be honest!
“My own granddaughter keeps teasing me with those Snapchat face swaps where you can see yourself bald and it does make me wish it was next week so I can get it over with.
“But I know that once I’m in the chair it will be worth every minute, and I just hope that as many as people as possible will help me to raise the funds I need to help this very special girl.”
Bernie has set herself a fundraising target of £1,000, and if you would like to donate, you can do so online at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bernie-chant-amyrose