ALTHOUGH she was diagnosed with a painful disease of her own, Barbara Parker is determined to do all she can to help her sister.

And with Barbara's sister Marilyn undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, she decided to have her head shaved for charity at Caroline Collis Hairdressing and Beauty in Peatmoor Village Centre.

Barbara, 54, who suffers from fibromyalgia, a degenerative muscle condition, was devastated when her sister was diagnosed with cancer in December.

"I just felt helpless and wanted to do something to help her," said Barbara.

"Obviously I couldn't go through the treatment with her so I decided to shave my head to show my support for her.

"She was supposed to be with me, getting her hair cut before she loses it, but unfortunately she's quite poorly, having had a really bad reaction to the chemotherapy.

"I'm doing this for her. She did text me earlier to wish me good luck.

"When I told Caroline what I wanted to do she was very supportive too and has done her bit to help as well.

"I also wanted to raise awareness about fibromyalgia.

"I was diagnosed in 2000 but had the condition for years before it was properly recognised.

"Nobody knows what causes it and how to treat it. It's altered my life completely. I'm going to be donating my hair to the Little Princesses Trust so that they can make a wig out of it and children suffering from cancer and leukaemia can benefit.

"Donation pages have been set up for both charities and the site is going to be online for around 18 months so there's still plenty of time for people to show their support."

Melvin, Barbara's husband, said: "I think she's really brave to do this and has all of us supporting her throughout."

Caroline said: "Barbara is a client of the salon and when she told me of her condition and her sister's diagnosis as well, I just had to do something.

"Swindon has no fibromyalgia clinics and not many people know about the condition.

"It causes a chronic widespread pain in the muscles and soft tissues surrounding the joints and is accompanied by loss of concentration and fatigue.

"I've donated today's takings since 1pm and we've offered customers a 10 per cent discount on haircuts and blow drying too."

Donations can be made at www.donatetobreastcancer.org/barbaraparker1, there is also a link on the page to the Fibromyalgia Association where you can also make donations.