God-daughter’s illness prompts 'cutting' response from Ceejay (16)

Ceejay Byrne.

BY CEEJAY BYRNE
ON August 14 of this year, my three-year-old goddaughter Aoife was diagnosed with a form of leukaemia. She was very low on platelets and, therefore, started her chemotherapy treatment immediately. It all happened so fast and it scared me.

Within three months, Aoife had gone from being a perfectly healthy girl, whose blonde curls blew around her while she played with me on the beach, to a sick, frail girl who lost her hair while fighting for her life.

She still wanted to play and have fun with the other children, but she was just too weak most of the time. I didn’t know what to do, but I wanted to do something.

The Little Princess Trust is a children’s cancer charity. The charity was launched in 2006, by the parents of a young girl who lost her battle with cancer.

They provide one real-hair wig free of charge to children in Ireland and the UK who have lost their own hair during chemotherapy treatment.

In order to make the wigs, people in Ireland and the UK are donating their hair. To make one wig for a child, the charity needs over twenty donations, each of seven inches or more of hair.
Even with the hair donations, it still costs the charity €250 to supply a wig to one family. In order to make sure the families of these sick children don’t have any extra expense in paying for these wigs, the Little Princess Trust need both hair donations and fund-raising.

I had heard about the Little Princess Trust before and even knew of some people who had donated their hair. Before August 14, I never would have dreamt of cutting my hair. Even for this great charity looks are everything to a 16-year-old girl.

However, seeing my gorgeous baby goddaughter lying sick in a hospital bed changed my whole outlook on life. I wanted to do something that could help my little girl.

I researched the charity further and I have decided to donate 12 inches of my hair to the Little Princess Trust this Saturday.
I am also raising money for the charity, so they can keep providing the wigs without charge to families. To date, I have raised €200.

My aim is to raise €250, enough to pay for one wig. Even though I don’t know who will receive my hair in a wig, in my mind it’s one step closer to my brave goddaughter getting her real-hair wig.

If you would like to make a donation to Ceejay’s cause, log onto www.justgiving.com/Ceejay-Byrne or find out more about the charity itself, see www.littleprincesses.org.uk

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