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Cambridgeshire Cats defensive back Matt Casey recently had
nearly a decade’s hair growth shaved to raise funds for the charity Lifeblood. Lifeblood,
registered charity
1090540
is an
organisation designed to promote awareness & understanding of thrombosis, a
condition that kills more than breast cancer, AIDS and traffic accidents
combined. Venous Thrombosis affects 1 in 1000 people in the UK every year, with
1 in every 10 cases of Pulmonary Embolism becoming fatal. “Case” knows this
having himself lost his father to “PE” 3 years ago, and it is in his memory
that the fundraising took place.
Originally aiming to commemorate the anniversary of his
father’s passing, the event was postponed in part to coincide with National
Thrombosis Week, May 12-16th. Having approved Matt’s fundraising
efforts on the JustGiving website, Lifeblood Executive Officer Annya Stephens-Boal
contacted Matt offering her support, which included mentioning his event in the
House of Commons itself! This removed any ideas Matt may have had of pulling
out of the haircutting: “I was really getting cold feet about the whole thing,
and whilst I’d never have gone back on my word to those that had sponsored me,
when Annya called me to say I was getting that kind of publicity it really sunk
in that I was going to have to go through with it- which in a way helped as the
decision was set in stone”.
Matt’s hair had long been a topic of great interest at the
Cats, and braiding it into what he dubbed a “warrior-like plait” had become
part of the game-day ritual that is so important to Britball players. “Many of
the team had volunteered their services to cut the hair, even before I’d
decided to lose it for charity. I’d often said I’d never cut it again, so the
decision was a big one however when the idea of doing it for charity was put to
me I couldn’t refuse. So I decided to auction off the rights to cut it- the
biggest donor getting first refusal.”
The most motivated bidder was Cats teammate, centre Chris
Fenton. Fenton is one of the few people ever to photograph Matt with his hair
down, and was keen to do his part both in the fundraising and complete the head
shaving. Having entered the team together in the 2005 season, Fenton and Case
have gone through the lows and highs with the club, and asked if about it Case
said “If you’d told me 3 years ago that this guy I’d barely met would shave my
beloved hair I wouldn’t even have laughed. I’m out injured and when I come back
it’s going to be interesting- I wonder if my helmet will still fit! Still I
guess now I don’t have to worry about Troy Polamalu tackles”.
The Cats are enjoying their best season in recent memory,
heading the BAFL2 East after a 20-0 win over close rivals Peterborough this
past weekend. The derby win gives the Cats control over the division which
provided some compensation to Matt: “the Saxons had put out some good
confrontational publicity to promote the game, well I’m happy to say that l was
the only Cat to be skinned last week”.
Contributions from Fenton and others at recent Cats games helped
Matt reach and exceed his targeted £500 for lifeblood, and donations are still
accepted on the website
www.justgiving.com/mattcasey.