ON a chilly Tuesday afternoon you might not expect to see an act of bravery in a hairdressers — but there was one last week, as an Okehampton woman had her long blonde hair shaved off in a poignant fundraiser to show support for her mother-in-law.

Starla-Blue Grehan made the decision to shave off her hair in support of her mother-in-law Anna Stokes, who lost her hair during her most recent round of chemotherapy.

Anna was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2012. The disease is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for producing antibodies.

Collections of abnormal cells accumulate in the bone marrow, interfering with the production of normal blood cells.

Seeing Anna battle the illness has proven particularly hard for Starla and her family, as Anna appeared completely healthy before the diagnosis.

It moved Starla to do something positive and show her support.

She has used the head shave as a means to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, far surpassing her initial target of £500 by raising £1,030 so far.

She has also donated her hair to have a wig made to directly help someone else who has lost their hair during chemotherapy.

After the shave, which took place at Quinns in Okehampton's East Street, Starla said: 'I feel really good. I thought I would be really scared, and there have been a couple of nights where I thought twice about doing it, but I am so glad it is done.

'I have never done a fundraiser or anything like this before, so I didn't know where to set my target.

'Everyone in Quinns and around Okehampton has been so kind, putting up posters and showing their support.

'Everyone in Quinns today has been amazing, and thank you to them.

'I just wanted to do something to support Anna, and everyone has been so supportive of me in doing it.'

She was joined by her family for the headshave, including her sister who travelled from London to surprise Starla and support her, her husband Josh and daughter Lola, and Josh's parents Hugh and Anna.

Josh was beaming with pride after the headshave.

He said: 'I am so proud of her. When she told me she was planning to do it I had selfish thoughts at first, but now I am just so proud. She has raised so much money.

'Macmillan has been so supportive to mum all the way through, and I am so proud of Starla for giving something back like this.

'She is so brave — she is a princess kind of girl, rather than a rock chick type of girl, so it means a lot to her.

'She is so pretty that even though it is a shock, she looks really great.

'And now it won't take her as long to get ready in the morning!'

To find out more about Starla's efforts and to donate, visit http://www.justgiving.com/Starla-Blue-Grehan">www.justgiving.com/Starla-Blue-Grehan