A ten-year-old nicknamed ‘Rapunzel’ because she’d never had a haircut had all her locks chopped off – to support her best mate who has cancer.
Caring Millie Hughes was devastated when her bestie Erin Hickey was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Millie had never had a proper haircut before and her locks flowed down her back to her waist.
But when eleven-year-old Erin’s hair began to fall out and she was given a wig, Millie was inspired to help – by donating her own hair to the charity which helped her pal.
Little Erin, who’s hair is now growing back as she has been declared leukaemia free, chopped Millie’s 12-inch braid herself.
It will now be donated to the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs out of real hair for children receiving cancer treatment.
Millie, whose grandfather also has cancer, said: “I was really excited. I only ever had a little trim.
“I was just going through seeing my friend losing her hair and my granddad getting poorly, I just wanted to help in some way that’s not raising money.
“It feels like I’m helping someone with what they’re going through.”
Millie’s waist-length hair had been her pride and joy but saw her friend Erin wearing a wig during her chaemotherapy.
Proud mum Debbie Hughes, said: “Millie’s got beautiful long hair all down to her bottom. She’s never even had her hair trimmed more than one inch.
“She’s forever loved her hair, until her best friend was diagnosed with leukaemia and her granddad was diagnosed with cancer.
“We’ve done a lot of fundraising for her but Millie decided to do something herself. In her head she’d been thinking about what she could do.
“She said ‘I’ve made up my mind, I want to cut my hair.'”
Her daughter had always been adamant about keeping her glossy dark hair away from the hairdresser’s scissors, but Millie’s sudden change of heart surprised her parents.
Mrs Hughes said: “She loves her long hair, for her to come out and do something like this is just amazing. She wants to make someone happy.
“When I say to her ‘I’m so proud of you,’ she just said ‘it is nothing compared to what other people are going through.'”
Her daughter’s haircut took place at Bella Hair and Beauty Lounge, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside on Friday.
The 32-year-old added: “She came out of school saying ‘have you booked it?’ and has been on the countdown ever since.”
Erin’s mum, Katie Hickey, said: “Millie’s an absolute diamond to Erin, she’s dead confident and Erin is quite quiet.
“Erin was quite shy about letting people see her without her hair. She wore a wig for eight months, now her hair has grown a few little but she’s quite comfortable with it now.”
The brave 11-year-old had three wigs, two of which were given to her by the charity – but her favourite was a blonde one, and she was already begging her mum to let her bleach her hair as soon as she was able to.
She took part in Millie’s haircut, taking a pair of scissors to snip the braid which was packaged up and sent away to make a wig from human hair for another young child.
Her mother said: “Erin’s hair was really long too. That was the worst bit, telling her she would lose her hair.
“She said ‘I don’t want any medication that will make me lose my hair’ – it was heartbreaking but we’ve got to be positive.”
Erin has now been declared leukaemia-free and was glad to be able to return to the classroom, walking to school with her best pal.
Mrs Hickey said: “They are the best of friends, I know Erin would do it for Millie.
“She doesn’t wear a wig any more but without the Little Princess Trust I don’t know what we would have done. Without it Erin would not have left the house for the past eight months.
“It has made her more confident.”
The mother-of-five added: “They have made a perfect bond for the rest of their lives. I don’t think anything will come between them.”
