11-year-old girl hopes to raise £300 for Samantha Smith

Isabella Brophy

An 11-year-old girl is aiming to raise £300 for family friend Samantha Smith by having her hair cut towards the end of March.

Isabella Brophy, whose family used to live in Smithy Bridge, has offered to cut a minimum of 12” from her flowing locks to help raise money towards their family friend’s appeal. Once cut, Isabella's hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust, which supplies wigs for children with conditions that result in hair loss, such as alopecia or chemotherapy.

Last year the Brophy family, who now live in Stockport, held a sponsored trampoline raising more than £800 towards Samantha’s surgeries and treatments.

Isabella’s mum Kerry, who has known Sam for around four years, said: “Isy has been talking about getting her hair cut so she thought it would be a great way to help Sam as she also has friends that have raised money for other charities by doing the same thing,

“We are so, so proud of her doing this to help Samantha. Isabella knows both of Sam’s children and really feels sad for them that their mother has been so ill, especially over the last year and a half.

“Due to Sam’s health issues being caused by her having Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, she’ll need treatment throughout her life. As so many of the specialist tests and treatment for EDS and its associated conditions simply aren’t dealt with by the NHS, it’s really important we help to continue the amazing fundraising that saw £150,000 raised for Sam to have lifesaving spinal surgery in the USA last summer.”

Samantha added: “I’m incredibly grateful to Isabella. She is a beautiful young lady with a wonderful heart and is an absolute credit to her parents, Kerry and Wayne.”

Rochdale Online has closely followed Samantha’s journey since April 2017, when we broke the news of her desperate race to raise £150,000 for lifesaving neurosurgery after her brain and spinal cord were being crushed under the weight of her own skull.

Following two operations in Washington with a leading surgeon over the summer, psychotherapist Samantha, 31, revealed the surgeries failed to stop her neck from dislocating, and she now requires a third operation which will further restrict her movement, estimated to cost in the region of £100,000. 

This is on top of a further £50,000 to cover the costs of the most recent operation.
 

To donate, visit:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/isabella-sponsored-haircut