Team Tibbs! Friends shave to show Lucas support after leukaemia diagnosis
A group of school pals showed they are fully behind classmate Lucas Tibbs as he battles leukaemia by all having their heads shaved.
Lucas, aged 13, of Great Wyrley, was diagnosed in September on the day he was due to start Year 9 at Cheslyn Hay Sports and Community High School, leaving his family devastated.
Since the diagnosis, family and friends have launched a series of fundraising campaigns, under the name Team Tibbs, to support him, which has already raised £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
As part of the fundraising effort, 15 of his friends raised £1,600 by having their hair shaved off in front of the rest of their year group in a special assembly.
His mother, Karen Tibbs, said she was brought to tears by the support of his friends.
She said the family have been ‘overwhelmed’ with the amount of support they have received.
Rollercoaster
It has been a rollercoaster few weeks for the teenager, who started a gruelling course of chemotherapy just two days after being told he had burkitt lymphoma.
He was on holiday in Cornwall with his family when complained of head pain and started being sick.
His mother assumed he had picked up a bug but by a week later he had lost his speech and was rushed to hospital.
The support of classmates has helped the family cope during the difficult time.
Karen said: “The assembly was the first time he had seen his friends since he started treatment.
“He is normally the ringleader of the group - the loud one - but chemotherapy has affected him and he was embarrassed to go to school at first.
“But when we were there he really enjoyed himself – it really lifted his spirits. The whole experience and all the support has been overwhelming. We were moved to tears in the assembly.
“We want to say a massive thank you to everyone.
“The community spirit and amount of support has really blown our minds.”
Strength
Karen says she has done her best to stay strong for Lucas and bother Elliot, 15, during the traumatic period.
She said: “It’s an aggressive cancer which presents in the brain but he’s been able to get through quite a lot.
“To watch a 13-year-old as a mum is heart-wrenching. I’m quite a strong person, he is strong too, I think he gets that from me. The support helps me keep going.
“Medically he’s doing really well but emotionally he’s not really. I’ve had to have a really frank talk with him. He’s a very lively lad but he’s had a shock to the system. It has knocked his confidence and I’m having to be his comfort blanket.”
Assistant headteacher Gavin Hood added: “The idea came from the students themselves. Lucas’s friends have been frustrated that their friend is ill and that there is nothing they can do to help.
“It is against school policy to have shaven heads but we agreed to let a hairdresser come in and do it in an assembly in front of their year group.
“Young people get such bad press but the way they have come together in support of their friend is really touching. We are incredibly proud of them.”
Support
The aspiring footballer, who is the grandson of the late Bill ‘Chopper’ Guttridge, who played for Wolves and captained Walsall, plays for the Walsall FC Academy under 14s team.
Since the diagnosis, has also received a letter of support from Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, who is in remission after battling leukaemia for a year.
Lucas starts round three of his treatment next week and has seven months of treatment.
Karen said: “All I can say is it is like a rollercoaster. We have no control of this so we have to go on and make the best of a bad thing if we can.
To donate search Team Tibbs Great Wyrley & Cheslyn Hay on Facebook.
