For two years, little Lewis Farrell has had to put up with a lot of comments about his long hair.
The eight-year-old is constantly having to correct strangers in the street, who tell his family what a lovely girl they have.
And for a quarter of his life, he has had to endure what few boys his age have to go through — periods of extensive brushing and painful tugs.
But soon, it will all be worth it.
The Errol Primary pupil has been purposefully growing his hair long since he was six years old.
Next week, he will have it all chopped off in the name of charity. The locks, which flow to more than seven inches, will be made into wigs for children with cancer and other illnesses, by the Little Princess Trust.
Proud dad David said: “When he was six, Lewis was sitting on his mother’s knee as she watched a video on Facebook.
“It was about a little girl who had cancer and was in chemotherapy. She had lost all of her hair and, although she was already in a world of pain, now she felt even worse every time she saw her reflection. It was tragic.”
The story had been posted by the Little Princess Trust and Lewis told parents David and Mel that he wanted to help.
“He said he wanted to donate his hair,” said David. “But it was just way too short to do anything with. At the time, we used to cut his hair at home using clippers.
“But he was determined.”
David said: “There was two years of tugs that hurt so much he cried and he faced comments like: ‘What a lovely little girl’.
“But our selfless little boy stayed strong. He wanted to help someone in pain feel a little better.”
Lewis will say goodbye to his long locks at Errol Masonic Hall on Saturday, May 20 at 3pm.
His family has already raised more than £300 through online donations and sold a further £100 worth of raffle tickets.
“I think he’ll miss having long hair, but he won’t miss the brushing or having to keep telling people he’s not a girl,” said David, who works for mobile phone game developer Tag Games.
“We’ll have to go out shopping to get a hat.”
The Little Princess Trust was set up 11 years ago by the parents of little Hannah Tarplee, who sadly lost her battle with cancer aged five.
A spokeswoman for the charity said: “We are always particularly touched to hear about boys and men who have decided to grow their hair and donate it to the Trust.
“A huge heart-felt thank you goes out to Lewis Farrell for choosing to donate his hair. We hope that Lewis’s donation will help raise awareness of our plight to provide real-hair wigs for all children, boys and girls, and perhaps his actions will inspire other to do the same.”
To donate to Lewis’ campaign visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Lewis-Farrell8.
