Mum’s sudden death prompts head shave

Hazel Hollywood, who died suddenly last month, worked as a nursery nurse at the Camelia Botnar Children’s Centre until she fell ill shortly before Christmas.

The 63-year-old was well known in the community for her involvement with the charity, which was founded by Octav and Marcela Botnar in memory of their daughter Camelia, who tragically died in an accident at the age of 20.

Now her daughter Emily Stakim, 35, said her mother’s sudden decline led her to want to do something in her memory.

The childminder, of Kithurst Close, Goring, said: “Mum was fine up until about eight weeks before Christmas, when she was working with the children at the centre and hurt her back.

“She was signed off work as a result, then after Christmas we noticed that she had lost a bit of weight and was not really herself.

“On December 27 we called an ambulance as she was having trouble breathing. On New Year’s Eve she was put on life support as she was suffering from massive organ failure and apparently had been poorly for some time.

“It was awful. She died on January 5. Mum was a lovely lady and she was my best friend.”

Mrs Stakim will shave her head at the centre on March 22.

She said: “This has been such a shock and is so surreal but putting my energy into this has really helped me.

“I want to raise the profile of the centre and the charity because unlike national charities it has no money for advertising.

“Mum loved working there. She even took voluntary redundancy when it was going through some funding issues but missed it so much she went back as supply cover.

“I want to raise as much money for Camelia Botnar as possible and I wanted to do something quite dramatic. It is in my mum’s memory and it is a really important cause.”

Entertainer Dave Benson Philips will keep children amused during the head shaving event and the person who donates the most can do the shave if they wish. To donate go to www.mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/emilyshavehead