WITH tears in her eyes but a heart full of hope, Tamworth's Belinda Edwards watched her long locks fall to the ground.
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"It's like losing a part of him, losing my hair, but I also know this is what he really wanted," she said.
It was the wish of her son, young Aidan Jachim, that she donate her hair to Variety, the Children's Charity, to be made into wigs for sick kids.
Aiden passed away in May last year at 14 years old after a long battle with Hollow Visceral Myopathy (HVM), a rare genetic condition that causes a very slow digestive tract, frequent bowel obstruction, and a distended stomach.
"I'm glad I could finally make this wish come true for him. I just wish he'd been here beside me with it," Ms Edwards said.
For Belinda, a visit to Tamworth from the Barbering Biker Chris Keeble was too good of an opportunity to miss.
"I made this very rash decision at 9 o'clock at night to send this lady a message saying 'my son wants me to cut my hair for Variety, would you be able to do it?'," she laughed.
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"He'd spent a lot of time in and out of hospital, so normality was something that was very difficult for him to achieve.
"And part of me getting my hair cut was he wanted to give to kids who weren't normal.
"He wanted them to be able to have hair so that they could look normal at school, and feel normal, because normality was a big part of it."
Famous for travelling from town to town and giving country folk free makeovers, the Barbering Biker meets people from all walks of life, whether they just need some lovin', or want to give some love back.
"There's about 50 centimetres from about my shoulders down to the bottom and what I get cut off will be sent to Variety who will make it into wigs for kids," Ms Edwards said.
"For me and for Aiden, COVID was a big thing because it did allow us to come home for a week in April last year and he got to spend some time with his cat and sisters.
"It's been a bit of a journey since then, I've had a lot of struggles but it's been a really good journey and I've met some really great friends at Coles where I'm working now and they've all been very supportive and helpful."
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