Friend braves the shave in a show of solidarity 20 February 2024 Chiara Ryan, a learning support assistant at Riverside Primary School in Stirling, was left stunned when her pal and colleague Laura Macrae suffered a brain aneurysm last year. Laura discovered she would require three life-saving operations and had to have her head shaved. In a show of solidarity, Chiara decided she would lose her locks in January to show support to her friend who is now recovering at home. Chiara, 42, said: “Laura and I have been the best of friends since we started working together in 2015. “We were all so shocked when she became ill. I felt I needed to do something in solidarity with her. “It’s certainly not the best time of year to go bald! But it’s been fine so far, I just wear my hat a lot. Our other colleague, Lisa, was very nervous about doing it, but she used to be a hairdresser and even though her hands were shaking at first, she did the job perfectly.” As a result, the fundraiser has brought in more than £1,400 for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, the country’s largest health charity. My daughter set up the JustGiving page and we set a target of £300 thinking it would be amazing if we reached that or maybe even made it to £500. The response has been incredible – we’ve been gobsmacked by how generous everyone is. Chiara added: “My daughter set up the JustGiving page and we set a target of £300 thinking it would be amazing if we reached that or maybe even made it to £500. The response has been incredible – we’ve been gobsmacked by how generous everyone is.” Laura’s sister, Fiona Young, is the manager for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Bridge of Allan shop and knows just how important the work of the charity is. Laura, Fiona and their two sisters lost their mum to a brain aneurysm 37 years ago. Fiona said: “Chiara deserves a great deal of public applause for what she did, it was such a selfless act to lose her own hair. We are so grateful to her and so glad to have Laura home and bossing us all around as always!” Chiara is now watching her hair slowly grow back and is hoping it’s fully grown by the time she’s a bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding next year. She added: “I asked my family how they felt about me shaving my hair off, and they were fine. I wasn’t sure if my sister would be quite so happy, but she was very relaxed about it. I wanted to do something for my friend, so she’d know she wasn’t alone.” Stephanie Wilks, Community, Events and Corporate Fundraiser for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland said: “We are very grateful to Chiara for choosing CHSS to benefit from her very brave fundraiser in support of her friend Laura. On behalf of everyone at CHSS we wish her well in her recovery. “The funds raised will help us to support the 1 in 5 people across the country who are living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and Long Covid to live their lives to the full.” Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland is committed to reaching 175,000 people living with its conditions across Scotland a year by 2028 through its Community Healthcare Support Services. Find out more about fundraising for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland. If you’re living with the effects of a chest, heart or stroke condition or Long Covid and looking for advice and information, please contact Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0899. You can also text NURSE to 66777 or email adviceline@chss.org.uk.