On the 18th of October, Susannah Hunt, Classical Studies student and Hockey Player, had all of her hair shaved off for cancer. Susannah’s story is extremely inspiring and selfless, but not for the reasons you might think. Susannah has never experienced a loved one’s battle with cancer. Yet despite this, she took it upon her self to perform an act of pure kindness and generosity in order to raise money for the great cause, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Being a student at university, we can certainly feel in a bubble of image obsession, especially as we are constantly immersed in social media pressure, making Susannah’s act even more brave and powerful. Not only this but Susannah actually agreed to have her hair shave filmed by UBTV which makes for an extremely poignant video. Gemma Wilson, Production Director of UBTV, and also one of Susannah’s friends, said “I honestly could not believe she was going to do it – it’s completely in her character but on the day there were so many different emotions flying around. I knew it was then going to be harder than she thought.” The video shows Susannah’s friends each cutting off a section of her hair, with her work manager shaving the rest off at the end. Gemma reflected that “her personality and selflessness really comes across in the video – it was easy to make because the story is so lovely and honest.”
UBTV’s film brilliantly captures the bravery and importance of Susannah’s selfless act. Due to the money invested in cancer, now 50 percent of people diagnosed survive their battle which is certainly a massive improvement but it’s still not enough. Susannah makes the very valid point that although she hasn’t yet had a personal experience of the disease, “one day a family member or I may be a victim and this scares me.” Macmillan Cancer Support have publicly thanked Susannah on their Twitter account for her incredible act and if you would like to donate to Susannah and this worthwhile cause then head to her Just Giving page to see her incredible journey.
Next Monday, we will be hearing from Susannah herself in an interview for Campus Celebrity where she will talk all about her motivations for the head shave and what life has been like since then. In the mean time, enjoy UBTV’s powerful film of Susannah’s incredibly admirable act.