A teenager is shaving her hair so that her 13-year-old friend who is battling cancer ‘doesn’t feel quite as alone.’

It comes as a community rallies round to support Crossways youngster Nevah Richards who has a rare and particularly aggressive form of bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma.

A fundraiser is being held today, Friday, at Dorchester Cricket Club raising money for the Christie Charity to develop a simple blood test that can be run alongside the other tests to aid diagnosis at an early stage.

The fundraiser has been organised by Nevah’s friends and fellow cricketers.

Nevah is now on a chemotherapy protocol to shrink the tumour and hopefully find herself in remission. But this cancer has a history of reoccurrence so the development of a blood test that could catch the next growth early will help her have options for the future.

Sophie Brown, 17, met Nevah and her older sister Marla when she started training at the club.

Dorset Echo: Nevah (Left) and her sister Marla (Right)Nevah (Left) and her sister Marla (Right) (Image: supplied)

Sophie, from Puddletown, explained: “Both Nevah and Marla had the sweetest smiles and a positive attitude towards everything they did. I was lucky enough to be paired as Nevah’s batting partner and as the matches went on Nevah and I gained a lasting friendship.”

Earlier this year Sophie noticed that Nevah wasn’t going to training as often and was then devastated to hear about Nevah's diagnosis.

Sophie said: "All I wanted to do was give her a hug and let her know I’m here for her every step of the way.”

She said that Nevah once said ‘going through cancer as a teenager is a very lonely journey’ so in an attempt to make that journey less lonely, Sophie plans to shave off her hair and has asked Nevah to be the one to do it.

Sophie’s mum Susan said: “She knew cancer would probably make Nevah lose her hair and she didn’t want her to go through it alone and I wasn’t surprised when she mentioned doing it. She’s planning to keep her head shaved the whole way through Nevah’s treatment – I’m immensely proud.”

Sophie’s dad Stephen added: “It’s a massive thing at that age to shave your head – it’s a very brave thing to do.”

Sophie plans to get her head shaved before today's fundraiser as a ‘private thing’ and ‘something special between them.’

Today's fundraiser, which starts at 4.30pm, will consist of a BBQ, raffle, face painting and cake stall alongside a variety of cricket games. All are welcome.

Nevah's mum Heather said: "The cricket club has been an anchor for all of us. Every week they are our check-in."

She added: “Nevah’s symptoms started in January. Sport is very much part of our lives and both girls were very active. But Nevah was coming back from school falling asleep for two hours, having dinner and then having a full night’s sleep. And for a girl who never burns out she was saying ‘I don’t want to do this after school club’. It was out of character.”

Nevah underwent tests and biopsies, but it wasn’t until the lump had got big enough to see on a scan that she was diagnosed.

Heather added: “I knew something was very wrong - Nevah just wasn’t getting any better. It all came to a head on the coronation weekend when within five days she went from a normal teenager to not being able to eat, drink or walk and she needed to use a wheelchair.

"The registrar agreed to two days of intensive chemo and this shrank the tumour so that she could get back to walking and she was able to eat and drink.”

The family are awaiting the arrival of a Golden retriever puppy, which is something that Nevah has always wanted. The puppy will be a welcome addition to the family and will help them cope with the ups and downs of living with cancer.   

Sophie has set up a Go Fund Me page to bring Nevah’s dream of owning a dog to life and also to raise funds for the Christie Charity. 

She also got Nevah in touch with a friend of hers who is going through cancer as well so that they could talk to eachother about what they are going through.

At the time of writing £8,120 has been raised of an initial £500 target, with £5,000 being raised in 24 hours.

If you would like to donate and learn more about Nevah’s story visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nevahs-dream?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_qqft+nevahs-dream.