A LOVING daughter is shaving her hair off in memory of her dad, who lost his battle against cancer.

Cara Homer, 35, decided to raise money for the charity Cancer Research UK, after her father Sean McCarthy, 63, of Oak Road, Canvey, died earlier this year.

Mrs Homer said she got the idea from a friendly joke.

She said: “It was just a joke conversation to begin with. I don’t actually look anything like my family and it was a longstanding joke.

“One of my friends suggested I should shave off my hair to look more like my dad and it went from there.

“So the whole point is to see whether I will look likemy dad if I have no hair! I don’t know how that will turn out, but I hope it helps raise money for the charity.”

Mrs Homer has also lost her grandmother and aunt to cancer in the last 18 months and previously took part in Race for Life, to raise awareness of the illness.

She said: “We did the Race for Life in Basildon last year mainly for my nan, who passed away in December 2012 and aunty who died in April 2013.

“But after my dad passed away I wanted to do something different, and then the idea to shave my hair to a zero came about.”

Mrs Homer’s dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2013 – he passed away at the age of 63 in February.

She said: “My dad was a lovely man. He loved his family, he loved Canvey and it is just about raising awareness.”

Mrs Homer, who lives in Burnham, will be losing about 10 inches of her hair this Sunday when she goes for the chop.

She said: “I am really nervous, I’m not having just a hair cut, I’m literally shaving it all off.

But it is only hair and it does grow back.”

For more information, or to donate, go to www.justgiving.

com/carasheadshave