Metchosin girl criticized for charity haircut responds with kindness
Keilah couldn’t have been more enthusiastic to start the day. The nine-year-old even woke up early so her mom could flat-iron her hair.
“I was feeling really excited to go to school and show everyone my new (haircut),” Keilah smiles.
The girl has been been growing her hair long for five years, before cutting most of it off to donate to a wig-making charity for children with cancer.
“I really hope they enjoy it,” she said earlier in the week, while holding her 15-inch lock of hair. “I hope it makes them happy.”
Keilah also raised more than $1,600 for the cause, after her Nana unexpectedly died from leukaemia.
“I think Nana is looking down from heaven,” Keilah’s mom Marina says with a smile. “And is so proud of her granddaughter.”
When Marina met her daughter after school the next day, she was looking forward to hearing how proud the other kids were about Keilah’s caring.
“I saw her get off the bus and I could immediately see her eyes were swollen,” Marina recalls. “She got inside the truck and she just started sobbing.”
Keilah said she’d been crying at school after a group of kids made fun of her and said her hair was ugly.
“It literally tore my heart apart,” Keilah says.
“The mama bear comes out,” Marina says of her reaction. “You just want to make it right for your child.”
So Marina shared her daughter’s story on social media, pleading with parents to talk to their kids about the impact of bullying and the importance of kindness.
She also mentioned what Keilah was considering.
“If this is how I feel — really bad — how do kids with cancer feel when they got bullied?” Keilah wondered. “It broke my heart.”
The post inspired hundreds of comments and thousands of shares. The overwhelming positive responses included generous gifts from local businesses, including a $100 gift card.
But the most meaningful message of all, Keilah says, is a video from a 4-year-old.
“Thank you Keilah. You are so beautiful,” Jaime says. “It means so much to us.”
His sister says her little brother has leukaemia. His mom says Jamie’s hair is just starting to grow back after receiving treatment and their family wanted Keilah to know how meaningful it was that she donated her hair.
“You are so beautiful,” Jamie says before the video ends.
“That really made my day,” Keilah smiles.
Keilah says she felt empowered going to school the next day, and even received apologies.
Now, she’s planning to pay the positivity forward, by using that gift card to buy toys for kids in the hospital cancer ward.
“I just want to,” Keilah says. “I feel like they deserve it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.