Video: Hull girl, 10, donates hair to help cancer sufferers

When Callie Stephenson decided to chop off her long locks, it was for a girl she had never even met.

The ten-year-old wanted to help cancer sufferer Ruby Lawler, whom she had only ever seen in photos.

"It's quite upsetting. She had to have chemo and now she's lost all her hair from it, which is sad," says Callie.

She came home from school in December and announced to her family that she wanted to cut her shoulder-length hair off, to raise money for the Little Princess Trust.

The charity gives free real-hair wigs to boys and girls who have suffered from cancer.

Not only has Callie raised almost £700 for the charity, she is donating her hair to be made into a wig.

Mum Sarah Stevenson said she was emotional when Callie told her.

"When she told me about it, I got a lump in my throat," the mum-of-two says.

"She's always been the sort of girl where if someone's crying in the playground, she'll go over and ask what's wrong."

Callie and Ruby, four, who met for the first time on Saturday, were both looking forward to making a new friend.

Ruby was diagnosed with Wilms' Tumour, a form of kidney cancer, a year ago.

"It's everybody's worst nightmare," says Ruby's mum, Cheryl Lawler.

"It was just a complete shock when we found out, we were thinking about the worst possible scenario."

The youngster had her right kidney removed last April and she is on course to finish her chemo in three months' time, if everything goes to plan.

"For someone as young as Callie to do this is amazing," said Cheryl, who lives in Orchard Park.

The 36-year-old was friends with Callie's mum, Sara, at school and they got back into contact after bumping into each other.

Although Ruby has lost her hair, Cheryl says she is too young to notice the difference and will not get a wig made.

But many youngsters are self-conscious about their hair-loss.

"I just wanted to help people with cancer," said Callie, who attends Eastfield Primary School.

"I hope that cancer sufferers are proud of me for doing it."

Callie's fundraising has touched so many people.

Her mum took sponsorship forms into work at Asda, in Hessle Road, to raise money, along with lots of other family members and those who donated on her Just Giving website.

When Sara contacted hairdresser Alexander Turnbull, at Alexander Hair and Beauty, about Callie having her hair cropped there, he offered to cut the girl's hair for free in support of the cause.

He makes bespoke wigs for clients and was so impressed by Callie's courage.

"I'd witnessed close friends suffering from hair loss through cancer and I wanted to invest my skills as an established hairdresser to restore their confidence," Alexander said.

When he started chopping away, Callie's family were there to support her, including dad, Christopher, 37, and brother, Josh, 18.

"We're so proud of her ... well, that's an understatement," her mum said.

Callie was unfazed by everyone's praise and while smiling at her new pixie crop in the mirror, mused on her next possible challenge.

"This is the first big fundraising I've done," she said, "but maybe I'll do more when I'm older."

Her original target was to almost doubled that and has managed to raise enough for two wigs to be made, as well as donating her own hair to be made into one.

"Everyone here is amazed that someone so young is doing so much for others," Monica Glass, charity manager at Little Princess Trust, said.

"We really are very grateful for this wonderful support and thank Callie sincerely along with her generous supporters too."

Visit www.littleprincesses. org.uk for more information and to donate to Callie's cause, visit www.justgiving.com/callie03