A CANCER patient’s fundraising drive to pay for complementary treatment in Spain has surged past its £20,000 target, following a friend’s sponsored head shave.

Dawn Watts’ appeal was given a £2,200 boost by her friend Lisa Harrison’s dramatic haircut at a fundraising afternoon held at Acorn Rugby Club, which also featured family activities, a raffle and tombola.

More money is set to be raised through a gig by acoustic rock band Viagara Falls at The Royal Oak pub in Copmanthorpe on October 21.

But Dawn, of Copmanthorpe, still cannot fly out to the Spanish clinic for the time being, as she is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment in York, said her husband Stuart.

The Press reported in the summer how the 52-year-old former nurse, who has been through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and drugs after breast cancer spread to her skin, spine, ribs and liver, was launching a fundraising appeal to help pay for new therapy in Spain.

She said she had found a clinic near Marbella which offered a bespoke complementary treatment aimed at promoting the body’s own immune system to tackle the illness as well as other treatments.

She initially set a target of £15,000 but then raised this to £20,000 after flying out to Spain for a successful meeting with a consultant at the clinic.

However, she then discovered that the cancer had spread, with a tumour discovered behind her left eye, prompting radiotherapy followed by the current chemotherapy.

“Dawn currently cannot fly to Spain,” said Stuart. “We are reviewing the situation regularly to assess when she will be able to look at the Spanish option.”

He said Lisa’s head shave event earlier this month went really well, with her hair being donated to the Little Princess Trust, which uses real hair to make wigs for children who lose their hair through cancer treatment.

She raised more than £2,200 for Dawn, with the total now standing at just over £22,000.

*Dawn reached last year’s York Community Pride Awards final after raising £32,500 for York Against Cancer and other charities over the last four years and is continuing these activities.