Leighton Buzzard teen raises £1.5k for Prostate Cancer UK after dad beats disease

Leia Gittings, 13, who lives on Doggett Street, said goodbye to her shoulder length locks on June 29 in exchange for a ‘grade three’ cut, with the challenge raising around £1,500 for the charity.

Leia was inspired to help because her father, Mark, was diagnosed with the condition in January, and is now recovering from an operation to remove the cancer.

Leia, who will move up to Vandyke Upper School in September, said: “Because I’ve had a personal experience it motivated me to help out.

“I think in general I’ve always had a massive thing about my hair and I’ve never really liked it long.

“I had the opportunity to raise money, so I thought I would do something with my hair. I was kind-of nervous on the day it was happening but it was actually quite ticklish and I couldn’t stop laughing!”

She told the LBO: “I’m glad that my dad has recovered well and that he’ll be OK.”

Mark, 47, said: “I was diagnosed at the end of January. I noticed I wasn’t peeing properly last year and a friend of mine who’d had a similar sort of problem said I should go and get tested.

“It’s obviously very scary - you hear ‘cancer’ and you think you’ll die straight away, but nowadays there’s all sorts of things they can do. However, it’s now the most diagnosed cancer in the UK.”

Mark had robotic surgery to remove the cancer on June 1, and hopes to be back at work soon.

The operation cost £30-£40,000, so to give something back, Mark completed a 10,000 steps challenge in March and raised £1,300 for Cancer Research UK.

Mark, Leia’s mum Gemma, and Leia’s sisters Chloe, Jaynie and Casey, are all “very proud” of Leia.

Symptoms of prostate cancer, as listed by the NHS, include: Needing to pee more frequently, often during the night; needing to rush to the toilet; difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy), straining or taking a long time while peeing; weak flow; feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully; blood in urine or semen.

The family thanks Carly Lathwell, from CAVE Hair salon, for doing Leia’s headshave for free.