A sweet little boy who spent two years growing out his hair has finally had 14 inches of his long blonde locks chopped to be donated to charity.
Back in June 2019, Thomas Waller was just seven years old when he decided to grow his hair long so he could donate it to the Princess Trust charity to be made into a wig.
His long curly blonde locks had people constantly mistaking him for a girl and saw him nicknamed the Gareth Bale of his football team for his man bun.
Now two years later, young Thomas has raised an incredible £4053 for the charity and finally had 14 inches of his thick hair chopped off and sent to be made into a wig.
Speaking of his decision, Thomas, now 10, said: “I wanted to make a little child who lost their hair happy.”
Thomas made the decision on his own after thinking about children that had lost their hair through illness and feeling it was unfair.
He told his headteacher of his plans before informing his proud mum Stacy Waller, 47, and dad Stephen Waller, 49, of what he wanted to do for the charity.
Housewife Stacy said: “We couldn’t be more proud of Thomas.
“He said that one day he had been thinking about children that had been poorly and had lost their hair and how it was unfair and that they must be feeling sad so decided to grow his hair to donate it to make a wig.
“He told his headteacher what he wanted to do and then came out of school and proudly announced his plan to us.
“He said that he decided he would grow his hair really long for a child who really needed it.
“He grew his hair with pride and in the two years of growing it, he had to constantly and politely correct people who would mistake him for a little girl, but that never deterred him from completing his own challenge.”
Thomas had a lot of support behind him, including from his football team, Broomfield FC, who nicknamed him the Gareth Bale of their squad after the famous footballer’s iconic man bun.
With help from his loved ones and members of the public, Thomas managed to raise an incredible £4053 for the Princess Trust charity in two years.
He finally got his hair cut by Stacy’s friend, Gemma Turner, who is a hairdresser, on June 29 at their family home in Broomfield, Chelmsford.
With each wig costing £550 to be made, the money that Thomas has raised will mean that seven wigs can now be made for little kids across the country.
Thomas had 14 inches of his long curly blonde locks chopped off and they will now become one wig for a child who has lost their hair.
Stacy said: “Thomas feels happy that it’s been cut off so that a wig can now be made to make a child happy and give them more confidence.
“He said it does feel strange not having his long hair any more, but he feels very proud that he grew it so long and that he can help so many children with the money raised.”
You can still donate to Thomas’ fundraising page on JustGiving here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stacy-waller?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=stacy-waller&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=cb656f9dfa8447f0ba700fc1b114eb2b
