A NURSE from Ayr is shaving her head to help families with Huntington’s Disease.

Briony Minter has completed the first stage – a charity head shave – of her amazing triple challenge in support of families living with Huntington’s (HD).

The 46-year-old witnesses the impact of the incurable neurological disease on people and their loved ones, fuelling her determination to raise awareness and support Scottish Huntington’s Association to provide lifeline services across the country.

Briony said: “I worked as a mental health nurse for 15 years but had never met anyone with Huntington’s disease until three years ago when I joined Wallacetown Garden Care Centre, where we care for people with HD who are no longer able to be looked after in their family home.

“I’ve built close relationships with the families and understand the trauma and sadness that Huntington’s disease brings every day. It is such a destructive disease, and it’s incredibly sad to watch it progress, especially when young people have their lives cut short.

“The families have a profound effect on me and I desperately want to raise awareness about HD, which is not so well known or understood by the wider public.”

Briony said: “My wife Jenny wasn’t keen at first but now she’s very supportive of my decision to have my head

shaved. I was moved to tears by colleagues and friends who came along to support me, and I know their donations will help to make a real difference.”

Huntington’s disease is caused by an inherited faulty gene in the brain which causes severe physical and psychiatric symptoms.

These include a deterioration in motor function leading to uncontrolled jerky movements and the loss of ability to walk, talk and swallow, as well as serious mental illness, mood swings and personality changes.