Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Brave Angus girl Anya, 7, chops long locks for charity after being given all clear in cancer fight

Glamis primary school pupil Anya Jacobson was diagnosed with a rare form of adult tumour in 2022.

Anya Jacobson has fought a rare form of cancer.
Anya Jacobson has fought a rare form of cancer. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

A courageous Angus girl has donated 10 1/2 inches of her hair to help young cancer sufferers just weeks after being given the all clear in her own fight against a rare tumour.

Forfar seven-year-old Anya Jacobson underwent two major surgeries on her arm after being diagnosed with a highly aggressive carcinoma in April last year.

But despite her own challenges, Anya was already planning her haircut for the Little Princess Trust, which provides wigs free of charge to youngsters who have lost their hair through cancer.

Forfar girl Anya Jacobson, pictured with mum Samantha, was diagnosed with a rare tumour.
Anya and mum Samantha. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

She has smashed a £500 target by raising more than three times that amount for the charity.

And the Glamis Primary School pupil is willing her new-look bob to grow quickly so she can have her locks chopped again for the trust.

Diagnosis devastated Forfar family

Parents Samantha Jacobson and Sam Robertson say they couldn’t be more proud of Anya.

“We knew something was wrong and it took a long time but eventually she went for a biopsy and Anya was diagnosed with a rare adult cancer,” said Samantha.

“It completely knocked all of us.

“She was only five at the time and the oncologist told us he had only seen it twice, both times in adults and not children.

Forfar cancer girl Anya Jacobson
Anya is looking forward to being back at Glamis primary school. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

“It was next to a growing bone which prevented chemo or radiotherapy.

“So it was difficult surgery, but she just handled everything brilliantly.”

The family praised staff at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids’ hospital, where the surgery was carried out.

“Anya’s amazing – a lot stronger than we have all been through this,” added Samantha.

Samantha and Anya Jacobson from Firfar.
Anya and mum Samantha. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

And in June, the brave Angus youngster and her family received the heartening news they had hoped for.

“She has been given the all clear but will still be seen regularly until she’s 12,” Samantha added.

Little Princess Trust idea

But Anya’s own health challenge didn’t prove any barrier to wanting to help other young cancer sufferers.

Samantha continued: “Anya saw the Little Princess Trust online and said she wanted to get her hair cut to donate to it.

“She just said she had a lot of hair and didn’t need all of it.

“The whole idea was her own and she asked me to order a pack from the trust and put her fundraiser on Facebook.

“Her target was £500 but within the first night it was sitting at £800 – we were just blown away by the response.

Forfar girl Anya Jacobson gets hair cut for Little Princess Trust.
Forfar girl Anya gets ready for the Little Princess Trust haircut. Image: Supplied

“We’re so grateful to everyone who has donated so far.”

And a few weeks’ ago, the long brown locks which Anya had only ever had trimmed were reduced by 10 1/2 inches by Forfar hairdresser Leanne Anderson.

“She loves her new bob, but she wants it to grow again so she can have it cut for the Little Princess Trust,” said her mum.

Forfar girl Anya’s Little Princess Trust fundraiser

Anya’s fundraiser is currently sitting around the £1,700 mark and people can donate to it here.

“This is her second fundraiser, we did a charity walk last October,” added Brechin High School teaching assistant Samantha.

Forfar girl Anya Jacobson has fought a successful battle with cancer.
Anya was given the all clear earlier this summer. Image: Supplied

Anya is now looking forward to joining her P3 pals at Glamis after the summer holidays.

“She absolutely loves school but the recovery periods after the two operations kept her off,” Samantha added.

“It’s been really difficult, but Anya has taken it all in her stride and we think she’s amazing.”