Neighbours and friends of Ann Glavin who assumed the city gran was sick when they noticed she’d gone bald can rest assured – she’s hale and hearty!
Many feared the worst – that Ann was battling cancer – and rallied round, calling to her home in Shantalla to offer comfort and support.
But the truth is she’s a healthy 61-years-old who took the brave decision to shave her head to raise money for charity.
Ann, from St Enda’s Road, agreed to be shaved, along with her sons John and Frankie also St Enda’s Road, and her daughter Paula and grandson Ashton (12) of Fána Burca in Knocknacarra.
The Glavins were touched by the concern shown by so many but they stress none of them – touch wood – are sick, and all five shaved their heads in order to raise money for Cancer Research.
“One woman called to mam’s house with chocolate and wine and said ‘I’m so sorry to hear the news’. Mam said ‘will you go away with your chocolates, I’m not sick at all’!” recalls Paula.
“I shaved my head years ago, in my 20s, and my brother asked me to do it again and I said ‘I’m too old for that now’. But I said ‘if mam did it, I’d do it.”
Ann didn’t hesitate. “She said: ‘That’s a great cause’”, says Paula.
But just because Ann, Paula, John Frankie and Ashton aren’t sick, doesn’t mean the Glavins, like most families, haven’t been touched by cancer.
Ann’s lost her mother Bridie Murray to bowel cancer, and her brother Martin Murray died aged just 15 of leukaemia. Ashton’s grandfather on his father’s side also lost a battle with cancer.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune
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