This Boy Isn't Gonna Stop Growing His Hair For Sick Kids Even If It Means Getting Teased
How did such a tiny human have such a big heart?
By Hew Lee Yee — 05 Jun 2015, 06:01 PM
Meet 8-year-old Christian McPhilamy, a boy from Florida with a heart of gold. He insisted on growing out his hair since he was 6 for a very special and extremely noble cause.
He grew out his hair because he wanted to donate 10-inch-long of his locks to make wigs for kids suffering from cancer
2 and a half years ago, then-6-year-old Christian McPhilamy decided to grow his hair long. He was teased at school and often mistaken for a girl, but he never changed his mind because he had a very special goal – to donate 10-inch-long locks of his hair to make wigs for children being treated for cancer.
boredpanda.com
This project of his started when he saw an ad for a hair donation charity which struck a chord in him even at the tender age of 6
Christian and his mom have a nightly ritual where they take an iPad and search for whatever fascinates him on Google. He's usually interested in animals but that night, Christian looked up St. Jude's. When an ad for a hair donation charity popped up, he asked Thomas what it meant. She explained to him people can donate their locks to cancer patients who have lost theirs due to chemotherapy.
"And he said, 'I want to do that,'" Thomas, 28, recalled. "I was blown away… usually when Christian sets his mind to something, he pretty much goes with it. He doesn't let anything falter his goals. I was pretty confident that he was actually going to follow through with it."
today.com
Despite getting teased constantly by the other kids for having long hair, he remained persistent and didn't let them distract him from achieving his mission
'He has endured an awful lot of criticism, and yes even bullying, throughout this time. From his peers calling him a girl to even coaches and family friends telling him he should cut it or offering him money to.'
'Even still, he has never once, strayed from his goal and always took the time to educate others on why he made the choice to grow his hair. I am one proud mommy as always.'
He was also mistaken a lot as a girl. On one occasion, a man criticised Christian's hair but quickly apologised and even commended him after finding out about his project.
One man bluntly told Christian his hair was getting too long and he needed to do something about it, but once he found out about the boy's mission, he offered a heartfelt apology, Thomas said.
Thomas also got used to hearing "Your daughters are so pretty" when she was out with Christian and his younger sister. At a doctor's appointment, a physician once greeted Christian with a cheery, "Oh, hey beautiful girl," to which Christian calmly replied, 'I'm a boy."
today.com
After 2 and a half years, he finally grew his hair out to the desired length and snipped them off into 4 10-inch ponytails which were donated to Children With Hair Loss
"My hands were shaking. My heart felt like it was going to explode," Deeanna Thomas [Christian's mum] said about the haircut. "It was just incredible."
today.com
