Hair-raising gesture

SCHOOLGIRL Olivia Hind McEntee has shown she is a cut above the rest by donating her long, glossy hair to make wigs for children suffering from cancer.

The seven-year-old got involved with UK charity the Little Princess Trust after mum Sarah read about it online.

Olivia, who attends Nadeen International School, Umm Al Hasan, had wanted to get her waist-length hair cut for some time and when Sarah suggested she should use it to help other children the big-hearted youngster was thrilled at the thought.

"With just a snip you can bring happiness to someone in need," she said.

The charity was established in memory of Hannah Tarplee, a 'little princess' who lost her battle with the disease in June 2005.

Originally set up by Hannah's parents, her school and friends, The Little Princess Trust helps parents of children with cancer and other illnesses which cause hair loss to source and pay for realistic looking, 'real hair' wigs.

It supplies and funds the best wigs available from all over the world, specially designed for children and also provides personal fitting and styling to ensure the wig is as close as possible to the child's original hair.

A spokesman for the charity said: "For any parent, discovering your child has a serious illness like cancer or leukaemia is devastating. The trauma for both parent and child can be increased by worrying about the side effects of the treatment, particularly hair loss.

"Most children cope remarkably well when their hair falls out. For some children however, this can be very upsetting. This is particularly true of young girls, hence the name, Little Princesses."

Having decided to take the plunge, Olivia's hair was duly cut off, leaving the pretty schoolgirl with a very chic bob, and she composed a heartfelt letter to send with it to the charity explaining that she wanted to help other children less fortunate than herself.

She was delighted to receive a letter back thanking her for her donation.

Sarah said: "When I mentioned it Olivia was very keen to get involved. I had thought about it for some time as I knew she wanted to get her hair cut but there is nothing like Little Princess in this part of the world and all the charities I looked up were in America.

"Then I heard about Little Princess in the UK and that was it. I think it's a lovely way for one child to help another and I'm hoping that, by publicising Olivia's story, other parents and children will want to help too."

For further details about the charity and its work log on to www.littleprincesses.org.uk.