Looming, the latest craze to hit schools across the world, involves ‘knitting’ together small plastic bands in a variety of bright colours, to create anything from bracelets to toys and even clothes. Since September, the Grade 1 girls have been pouring their time and energy into this hobby not simply for fun, but to raise awareness of brain tumours through the Loom to the Moon project.
Loom to the Moon was created by five-year-old Skye Hall, a resident of the UK who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in August 2013. His quest was to make the world’s longest loom band, which he wanted to enter into the Guinness Book of World Records to raise awareness and money for research into childhood brain tumours.
Improvements in treatment are much-needed because, while chemotherapy and radiation can destroy tumours, it is the toxic side-effects of the treatment that normally prove fatal.
Skye’s father, Andy Hall, is from South Africa, and when his South African friends heard about the plight of his son they decided to get involved and start looming. In just a week or two, the St Mary’s Grade 1 girls managed to loom 147m.
Dana Clemitson contributed an impressive 53m (36 percent) by getting up every morning at 5am for a week during the school holidays, and looming until bedtime.
Tragically, Skye Hall lost his battle with cancer on 29 August. But the girls have not stopped looming. They plan to reach a length of 200m and then courier the band to Skye’s little brother, Jesse, in the UK.
