Man grows hair to help genetic disorder charity in Shay's honour

For a man had his hair cut every two weeks, it was quite a challenge for Surj Bhullar to not go near the barbers for 13 months.

It all started with a bet while he was assistant operations manager at the Stagecoach Nuneaton depot.

Surj, who is now operations manager, said: “One of the drivers mentioned my hair was slightly longer than usual and I jokingly said I was growing it.

“He offered me a wager of £20 if I did not cut my hair for a month. With other drivers in hearing distance, I said I could do it for a year. Many of the other drivers wanted to take me up on the bet and I could not back down.”

He said when the pledges reached £200, he decided to do it for charity.

Sandra Murphy, a long time admin clerk at the Rugby depot, has a five-year-old grandson, Shay, who has fragile legs, which is a genetic disorder, so Surj decided to raise the money for the Fragile X Society.

Surj said: “I still have to total the amount raised, but so far I have just over £1,100, mainly raised from the drivers at Nuneaton, but also from the Rugby depot.

“I had to go to the Nuneaton depot before my hair was cut, because some the drivers said they would not pay up until they saw my hair.”

Stagecoach Midlands generously contributed £475 to support their employee.

“The hair was very challenging to keep under control and I would never do it again,” Surj said.

It was Sandra’s grandson who very gingerly made the first snip of Surj’s hair.