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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.