Cork dad to shave long locks and nine-year-old beard to raise funds in memory of nephew

A DAD of three is donating his hair to a charity that creates wigs for children as a special birthday gift for the nephew he lost to cancer.

Seán Casey and his family have already raised thousands in memory of toddler James who tragically never lived to see his fourth birthday.

The fundraiser, in aid of the children’s unit at Cork University Hospital, will culminate in a 21st birthday celebration for James taking place at the Glen Hurling and football club this September 30. It will come 18 years after his death from a brain tumour.

Seán has been growing his hair for five years in the lead up to the event. Anna (9), Cara (6), and Leo (5) will finally see their dad without his signature long hair when he gets the chop at the fundraiser later this month.

He joined his brother Trevor and sister-in-law Sylvia in marking the milestone event with recent fundraisers that included a bag pack in Dunnes Stores. The late toddler’s sister Laurey and brother Craig also formed a major part of fundraising efforts.

Almost €2,000 has already been raised by them for the CUH children’s ward. They hope to make a total of €21,000 in total for the organisation. Seán will be donating the hair that’s cut on the night to the Rapunzel Foundation in Waterford which specialises in making wigs for kids who have lost their hair to medical conditions.

The Cork man, who works in a garage, said that his youngest child Leo has never seen him without long hair.

“They have all asked me to start growing it back straight away after the event is over,” he said of his children. 

“My daughter Cara said she doesn’t want me to do it because after I cut it, I will just be like ‘a normal daddy’. She likes me having the beard and long hair because it means she can point me out in a crowd. They love the fact that I’m so different. The three of them all objected to me cutting both the beard and the hair. Children tend not to like change.”

Seán began growing his beard nine years ago.

“It started off as joke but things soon got very out of hand,” he laughed. “My wife Yvonne said that I wasn’t allowed to have a beard. I told her that I was never shaving again. I kept that promise and never did. She can’t wait for it to be gone and is counting down the days. I’m going to start growing it again straight afterwards so she will just have a few days of me being clean shaven to enjoy.”

His beard and long locks have attracted a lot of attention to date.

“I get more people striking up conversation with me when it’s long,” he said of his beard. “It’s mostly from young men who want to know how I grew it so long. I’m never approached by women, it’s always men.”

The Cork man said he will be unrecognisable without his beard and long hair.

“I’m sure anyone looking at my phone would be wondering why I have so many pictures of this “strange man”, he laughed.

He spoke of his memories of nephew James who inspired the fundraiser.

“There are little things that I can still remember about him such as his love for balloons. I can still picture him smiling everywhere he went. No matter how many operations James was after he was never down. He wanted to play and laugh after every surgery. When an adult goes through something like this they want to hide from the world but children are the opposite.”

He extended his gratitude to everyone who donated.

“I’d like to thank everyone in Dunnes as well as all the people who donated in Knocknaheeny, Ballyvolane and the surrounding areas. We are really grateful for everyone’s support.”

To donate visit: their GoFundMe page.