Why we braved the shave for our late friend Conor MacDonald

For a friend most dear


ITo meet Conor MacDonald was to become his friend, for he was a man that held no judgement of others. To know Conor MacDonald was to become a better person, for he inspired all around him. In this regard, Conor lives on in all those that were close to him. He loved white wine and dancing, and he’d much sooner hug someone than hurt them. He held his integrity and dignity through to his final moments.

Conor passed away on the 19th October in the Beatson in Glasgow from a particularly chemo-resistant strain of Hodgkins Lymphoma. Even when we visited him during what would become his final trip to hospital, he was making jokes and singing along to some awful music, which some would argue (he would argue) he delivered better.

There is no way to fully describe what kind of person Conor was over text, and so 11 of his close friends, his cousin and myself decided the best way to honour Conor’s memory was to ‘brave the shave’ in order to raise money for the Beatson, who took outstanding care of him and even those that came to visit him. We know he would have just laughed at how silly we looked, but for a group of friends that would collectively spend 12 hours a day on their hair, it seemed like a significant gesture. We have set up a JustGiving page, and although we have a target you can never raise too much money for such a worthy cause. Please donate and help others in Conor’s situation.


From the left: Hal Yacoubian, Dylan Gangel, Asif Hayat, Sean Kennedy, Andy Carroll, Iain Stewart, Marc Sinclair, Lewis Carroll, Aidan MacDonald and John Bell on the 17th of Novemeber.

Those in the first photo that have yet to shave will do so on the 24th of November

On being asked why this was a good way to honour Conor and also raise money, his 13-year-old cousin John Bell said:

“I braved the shave in memory of my cousin Conor, I felt helpless watching my cousin go through his battle with cancer. For that reason I got together with his friends to raise money for the Beatson cancer trust who did help my cousin. Conor told me to grow my hair in the first place and I wouldn’t have put effort into it if it wasn’t for him, and for that reason I believe I should ‘brave the shave’ in memory of Conor, as he had to go endure the loss of his hair through his treatment. Hopefully the money we have raised will help others that are going through the same battle that Conor did.”

The others said:

“Conor was a great friend to us all, and we were amazed at the strength he showed in his battle with cancer and wanted to do something to honour his memory and raise funds for the Beatson Cancer Charity. Conor had to endure losing his hair, and so we braved the shave, we thought it would be something he’d get a good laugh out of. We hope the money we raise will help other people going through the same as Conor in their own battles, and feel that it’s what Conor would want us to do.”

The majority of us that shaved knew Conor from our high school; Lenzie Academy. As this was a large part of Conor’s life, the mother of Dylan Gangel, Angela Wright, had the idea to make a bench and have it on the grounds of Lenzie Academy. The bench was built by Conor’s dad, Jim, and is now there to immortalize Conor’s presence and impact with the school.

A bench now stands in the centre of Lenzie Academy in memory of our friend

They say to beg is not an easy task, and so I shall simply ask you to please donate to this worthy cause, there are many cancer sufferers out there today that rely on the Beatson team to aid them through the unrelenting hardship of fighting cancer.