Kids Donate Hair For Cancer

Two young girls have sacrificed their beautiful, Rapunzel-like hair to children in need.

Six-year-old Charlie Tillotson and four-year-old Evie-Leigh Austin have had their long blonde hair cut short to help make wigs for children with no hair at all.

Both girls also raised money to donate alongside their hair to pay for wigs for young cancer patients around the country.

The youngsters didn’t know each other and decided to chop their hair for charity independent from one another, but their stories are remarkably similar.

Charlie, of Sidmouth on the West coast of England, had hated haircuts throughout her childhood but after watching a TV show about kids battling cancer she got upset.

Charlie’s father, Steve Tillotson, said: “She came up to me … and said, ‘Daddy, would you mind if I had all my hair cut off for children with cancer?’… I welled up.”

Her father set up a fundraising page to raise money for the charity Children With Cancer U.K, and once the deed was done Charlie donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust, an organisation that donates wigs to children with cancer. Donating can be done in more than one way, whether that’s through LPT, or through donating Aqiqah with Islamic Help, which is the hair weighed when a new baby is born.

Charlie lost 2 feet from her total hair length, amazing considering she has had her lengthy blonde hair for as long as she can remember, which was enough to make a wig for a lucky cancer patient.

Her fundraiser was also a success, raising over £1300 – enough to pay for four more wigs.

Evie-Leigh, aged just four-years-old, also decided to lose her locks for the same cause.

Her hair reached down to her waist, and she loved pretending to be Rapunzel, the Disney Princess with hair as long as the tower she was trapped in.

Sarah-May, the little princess’ mother, told Evie-Leigh about the effects cancer has on hair loss when her grandfather was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

When she found out that there were also young girls with cancer who had no hair at all, she insisted having hers cut off and turned into wigs so they ‘could feel like princesses too’.

The Austin family also decided to raise money along side donating Evie-Leigh’s hair, with a goal of £350 to pay for one wig. However, they tripled their target, raising over £1,100.

Sarah-May, 26, said: ‘I didn’t want her to have it cut because I love her hair, but her dad and I agreed that if she wanted to do it for charity she should.

“When it came to the haircut, she wasn’t bothered, but I was nearly crying. But now I think it suits her. She looks a lot more grown up.

“She’s done a lovely thing and we are very proud. For her age, what she is doing is amazing. She is a selfless little girl who wants to make the world a better place.

Tangled, the Disney version of the classic Rapunzel story, sees Rapunzel cutting her hair to save the life in order to save the man she loves.

Mrs Austin added: “When Evie-Leigh watches Tangled she says, “That happened to me”. She still thinks she is Rapunzel.”