Alexey
Makarov, volunteer fundraiser for Gift of Life

The tradition of betting my hair goes back to my
childhood. Before I could be registered for my first year of school, they told
us in no uncertain terms, “The boy needs a haircut”. And this golden-locked
little Alexey refused point-blank to lose his hair. That's when my granddad,
owner of the most luxurious grey mane, made it a challenge: whichever one of us
had their team lose in the European Cup would shave it all off. I bet my locks
on the England team versus Italy. The Italians won. And that was my first
haircut.

Ever since then, I've been a hardcore fan of the
England team, and I get a haircut exactly once every two years, when the
English get knocked out of the battle for the European or World Cup.

Bald for the greater good

Four years ago, when the English took yet another
shameful beating at the World Cup, I got my first haircut for charity. The idea
came from my fellow pubgoer Chris, who was then wrestling with the final stages
of cancer (he died half a year later). On that occasion, I managed to gather
around £600 for English kids with cancer. Two years later, the English lost
again, I went bald again, and this time I gathered over £1,000 for the kids in
Gift of Life’s care (Podari Zhizn’s sister charity – ed.). I’m really happy
that together with Gift of Life we were able to help sick children.

To Russia with love

This year the Cup is in Russia! And I’m going to shave
it all off again, since despite all my hopes, the English haven’t got a prayer.
This time Gift of Life is going to use all the money from my campaign to help a
great lad from Samara called Sergei Gerasimov.

This promising young sportsman and football player,
who’s scored wins at regional and city tournaments, has suddenly found himself
faced with the worst matchup of all—a deadly illness. Sergei’s been diagnosed
with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and he needs a bone marrow transplant,
which is to say healthy cells getting transplanted from an unrelated donor in
Germany. This is the only way to save him.

But the operation costs €23,000. Sergei’s family (and
on top of everything else, he’s lost his mum) can’t come up with that much
money. I can’t either—not on my own—but with your help, I’m hoping to raise every
last penny I can.

Let’s help Sergei get better together. Come and join
my campaign!

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