Gloucester hairdresser with cancer devotes life to helping other patients feel good

• Watch Ken Goodwin's report:

A hairdresser from Gloucester who underwent treatment for breast cancer has started making wigs for others who have lost hair due to cancer treatment.

Mum-of-two Jo Hall from Longlevens, was diagnosed with mastitis only to find out later that it was in fact stage four cancer.

During her treatment Jo lost her hair and started wearing a wig which she felt disheartened by.

Jo said: "I bought a few horrible wigs and that depressed me but then I bought a really nice one that was more expensive and it made a big difference to my confidence.

"It was exactly like my own hair, I looked in the mirror and I saw myself looking back. I loved it so much I just couldn't imagine not wearing one, so I wanted to learn how to do it so I could make other people feel good.

"When I was bald I didn't feel like myself and it was really distressing. It made me think I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to making wigs for women who are going through cancer treatment."

Jo started paying for the wigs with her own money before her friends started a GoFundMe page. She has made around 15 wigs so far and the orders are still coming in.

Jo found a lump in her breast in May 2017 but was diagnosed with mastitis and treated with steroids antibiotics and a low dose chemotherapy drug.

The lump returned in March 2020 and doctors found five tumours. They also told her the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

The 39-year-old had a mastectomy followed by five and a half years of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In September 2021 Jo was told that the cancer had spread into her spine.

Despite ongoing treatment for her cancer in her spine, Jo is not letting her illness stop her helping others.

She said: "I feel great in myself, and that’s why it is all a shock. As long as I’m feeling healthy I want to do something positive."I’m upbeat because I don’t want to waste a second being sad. I want to cram in as much as I can and I hope that being able to make these wigs will be my legacy."When you look in the mirror and you can see your old self because of the wig it makes you feel stronger and it makes you feel that cancer hasn’t stolen yet another thing off you, because cancer does steal everything."