Hats off to Moira for helping friend in need

Moira is knitting hats to raise money for research into brain cancer

Author Moira McPartlin was so touched by Fiona Reid’s story that she challenged herself to create and sell 50 bespoke hats.

Fiona (45) was diagnosed with an anaplastic oligodendroglioma brain tumour in 2010. She has undergone surgery and is currently having chemotherapy.

She said: “I have known from the beginning that my brain tumour can’t be cured but I remain relatively optimistic.

“New treatments are coming out and I hope there might be trials which I could be put forward for. I am so touched by Moira’s gesture as it’s such a wonderful thing to do.”

The pair worked together ten years ago at Dunfermline based window business C R Smith.

Moira’s hats have already raised £1,400 for the Brain Tumour Research charity, four times the amount she had hoped for, and she is still going strong - with 65 hats knitted so far.

Moira (57), of Killearn, said: “Fiona and I played five-a-side football and squash, lifted weights and cycled together.

“She seemed invincible but, although on the surface she was fine, I discovered through a mutual friend that she has been battling with a brain tumour for years.

“Despite her illness, Fiona is still the same funny, bubbly person she was during our gym years and I w anted to do something to help.

“I started knitting hats last November and I haven’t stopped since.”

Moira began knitting when she was expecting her first child, who is now in his late 30s. Her second novel ‘Ways of the Doomed’ was published last year and is the first in a trilogy for young adults.

Her hats come in a variety of styles - super chunky, Arran knit, beanie or slouch - and can be topped with a bobble.

Visit www.justgiving.com/moira-mcpartlin1 to buy a hat or donate.

For more info go to www.braintumourresearch.org