When Lucy Perrett was just three-years-old she attempted to cut all of her hair off with a pair of scissors.
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It was 2016 and her mother Bec had lost 95 per cent of her hair to alopecia.
Mrs Perrett said when she asked her daughter what she was doing, Lucy replied: “I want to give it to you Mummy.”
“Lucy has a heart of gold and has always shown a lot of empathy,” Mrs Perrett said.
“She’s always been the first kid to offer a cuddle if there’s another kid crying and is always the first one to pick up her two-year-old brother (Toby) if he has fallen down.
“I didn’t let her cut her hair off because, although a beautiful thought, it wasn’t exactly possible.”
Two-years later Mrs Perrett’s hair has grown back and Lucy’s long locks have doubled in length after she decided to grow them out and donate them to charity.
About 35 centimeters of hair will be chopped off at Coco Hair & Beauty in Warrnambool at 3pm on Friday.
It will then be donated to Angel Hair For Kids, which provides wigs to children suffering from alopecia and cancer.
Mrs Perrett said her daughter (now aged five) was inspired by her mother’s hair loss as well as by
her young friend Sophie, who is recovering from leukemia and has lost her hair through chemotherapy.
Lucy said she was excited about the chop.
“Mum had no hair and I wanted to give it to Mum but I couldn’t,” she said.
“I love Mummy and Sophie is my friend. I want to give my hair to all the little girls with cancer.”
Mrs Perrett said she was extremely proud of her daughter.
“Lucy is super smart and compassionate and very, very brave,” she said.
“It’s going to be a big change seeing her with short hair. She’s well-known for her long hair but it will grow back and Lucy is healthy and well, so we are very thankful for that.”
Lucy’s chop will also raise money for Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, which funds blood cancer research.
Maddie died in 2015 after living with aplastic anaemia for only five years. She was the sister of former St Kilda football club player and captain Nick Riewoldt.
Mrs Perrett said the foundation was close to her family’s hearts.
“We are all St Kilda supporters, but we also wanted to give to a charity that isn’t as common,” she said.
“We always donate to the Royal Children’s Hospital or the Cancer Council but this is one of those smaller ones that funds research into less common cancers, including blood cancers, and that is important.”
Donations can be made on the day or online at www.mrv.org.au/my-fundraising/93/lucys-gift.
