Kate Willingale, a volunteer fundraiser, from Kinross, Perth, has taken clippers to her locks and raised an amazing £433.75 for Epilepsy Scotland.

This wasn’t just another charity haircut for Kate, it was a deeply personal journey of courage and hope. For 27 years, Kate has been living with epilepsy and a brain tumour.

Recently, Kate was given the chance to have the tumour surgically removed. However, for this to happen a small strip of hair would need to be shaved from her head.

In a true display of ‘go big or go home,’ Kate decided to shave it all off, transforming a medical necessity into a powerful fundraising opportunity.

Kate said: “I started off only having absence seizures, where I’d “blank out” of conversations.

“I could hear what was going on, but I’d always seek comfort as I couldn’t talk. I’d say probably the last 14 years, my seizures have evolved to include focal seizures, tonic and a couple of tonic-clonic.

“My mental health dipped horrendously. My daughter had to live with a mother who’d prefer to lie in bed than live a life to help her development during her high school years.

“Epilepsy Scotland have helped me with all the very useful information they provide daily as well.

“I’ve called their Helpline several times over the years and always been met by someone who seems interested in listening to me then helping me.

“Last year, especially when I called in a bit of a crisis and was then offered a follow up and eventually a weekly call back which helped me enormously.”

On the road to recovery

Now post-surgery, Kate is on the road to recovery and is growing stronger every day.

She added: “To make things clear I still have my friend, the surgeon only “shaved away” some of the part that was causing my seizures.

“I’m still very tired, I always aim to have at least nine hours and also have a snooze during the day.

“This hasn’t changed from my days prior to surgery though. I have hope now though, I’m starting to see things more positively.”

Epilepsy Scotland Fundraising Manager, Jane Roberts is in awe of Kate’s spirit. She said: “We would like to thank Kate so much for being amazingly brave and rocking her new look!

“Everyone at Epilepsy Scotland would like to thank everybody who donated and wishes Kate all the best in her recovery.”

Delivering our Helpline service that helped Kate costs money- if you want to support the services that helped Kate, please consider donating to us to help us continue to deliver these vital services. To donate, please click here.