A cancer-patient mother has described her “shock” after her footballer son shaved off her hair – and then joined her in solidarity by turning the razor towards his own head.

Sam Diamond travelled to Malta last week to spend some time with her sons before starting chemotherapy in the UK and decided to shave her hair off as “I could not bear seeing it fall out”.

In an emotional moment caught on camera, her son, Liam Diamond, helped shave off his mum’s hair and then began to shave off his own.

“I didn’t want my mum to have to do this alone,” he said. “We’re very close – we’re like magnets. We take care of each other and support each other. We’re very connected. Soul-bound.”

The footage shows Liam shaving the last part of his mother’s hair while she is lost deep in thought. When he suddenly starts shaving his own head, his mother jumps up in shock and surprise before kissing and hugging him. She then continues to shave his head.

“It was this huge shock,” she said. “When you see your son doing a journey with you, it’s heart-breaking. It’s not a mother-son relationship. We’re like best friends.”

Sam spoke to Times of Malta from the UK, where she is preparing to start six months of chemotherapy on Monday before six months of radiotherapy and an operation.

‘Don’t forget your smear test’

She was diagnosed with cervical cancer after a smear test returned with an abnormal result and she is now being treated for stage 3 cancer, meaning it is more advanced. 

Sam is speaking out to raise awareness about the importance of regular smear tests after missing her test for several years due to the business of life. She mistook erratic periods for the early signs of menopause and wants women to be vigilant. “Women are working, raising children and running the house. But it is so important to find time for that smear test,” says Sam who has two sons and a daughter.

Born to a Maltese mother and British father, she lived in Malta for about 23 years.

Liam was five years old when he moved to Malta and lived here ever since – except for two years during his teens when he returned to the UK. He played 16 seasons of football and is now a player with Pembroke. He had to take a break after a “rough year” in which he suffered a knee injury last August but plans to return in a few months. Sam describes her son as “the sort of child who was so lovable and would do random things”.

Shaving off his hair for his mum was one of them – although he admits he had preplanned it. “I never shaved my head. The last time I was about eight years old. What you don’t see in the video is how much my mum cried when they cut her hair.

“I had planned to shave it and my girlfriend would film it. But then my mum started recording with her phone. She kept pressing ‘record’ and ‘stop’. Then there was a point – after it was shaved – that she pressed ‘record’ and she sort of zoned out. Then I shaved mine,” he says.

And when he shared the post on social media he wrote: “Dear mum… I know this journey is gonna be crazier than any other year you have lived but, deep inside, I know God is with you, and you will prevail as the winner of this quest. But I’d like you to imbed these words into your everyday going through chemo: ‘I will never know how strong I am, until being strong is the only option I have’.

“You’ve got this. I love you millions. Now we’re both bald.”