By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A BRAVE little girl with a big heart recently chopped off her long locks out of love for her sick Pop battling cancer.
Izobel Martin, 5, from Pakenham saw an advertisement of a girl having her hair cut to be made into a wig for people who lost their hair during cancer treatment.
She was told the donation made sick people feel happy.
Instantly, Izobel’s 82-year-old great grandpa, affectionately referred to as “Pop”, sprang to mind before the caring five-year-old declared she would cut her hair to make her sick Pop feel better.
Izobel’s mum Samantha Thompson said the sentiment behind her daughter’s gesture was touching.
“It was such a proud moment when she did it,” she said.
“She actually asked if she could give her hair to Pop because of his cancer … she thought it’d make him get better.
“I explained it was for someone who loses hair and she was happy to give it to another child to help them feel happy.”
The Officer Primary School Prep student, who had hair down to her backside, is chuffed with her new do.
“I like it because when we used to go driving, it would blow in my face and now it doesn’t,” she said.
She hopes her hair will make someone her age feel happy.
“I hope it goes to a little girl or a little boy with cancer.”
Izobel, who raised $250 for the World’s Greatest Shave for the Leukaemia Foundation, said her Pop was the best.
“I love him because he plays bingo and gets teddies for all the cousins,” she said.
Izobel’s father Paul Martin initially told his daughter she could donate her hair when she was older, but she was set on donating to someone in need.
“She brought it all on herself. I said she could do it in a few years but she said she wanted to do it know,” he said.
“I am proud of her. She’s pretty caring like that in her nature.”
Izobel’s great grandfather Bill Douglas lives in Cranbourne and is currently battling prostate cancer.
This year, the Greatest Shave initiate raised $13.67 million to fund research and support Australians with blood cancer.
