HOWLS of pain and anguish rang out after a Westbury man decided to do a full upper body wax to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust.

A slightly nervous Howie Walker, of Newfield Close, lay down on a salon chair at Vanilla the Essence of Hair & Beauty, in Trowbridge on Wednesday, before enduring a two-hour waxing session.

He decided to take on the challenge after his 22-year-old niece, Hannah Coates, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Despite being rather delicate and red all over after the process, Mr Walker said it was worth it.

“The pain that I am going through is nothing compared to what others have to go through - I don’t regret this decision at all,” said Mr Walker, through gritted teeth.

“My wife said I was hairy like a gorilla but now she can call me a nice, handsome, smooth man.”

The 63-year-old, who has worked as a driver for Summit Chairs in Trowbridge for 20 years, received a call from his wife Michelle when his chest was being waxed. She was able to watch a live video of the action.

“Your belly looks like the Sahara Desert,” she said laughing.

Mr Walker remained positive throughout the body wax.

“It is not as painful as when I had to flush out a kidney stone three weeks ago,” he said. “I could do with a triple Bacardi and coke though.”

Hannah said: “My treatment is going okay. I have my last round of chemotherapy in December. Hopefully I will then be in remission.

“I came out of hospital this week. I had a blood clot on the brain. I have to inject myself in the stomach every day.

“Howie is crazy for doing this but he is very brave.”

Beautician Melanie Cox, who did the upper body wax, said: “This is my first full upper body wax. I waxed the legs of some Trowbridge Rugby Club players for a fundraiser but not like this.”

To donate go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/howard-walker4