Bald Cinderella Helps Leukaemia Girl, 5, Feel Beautiful

A girl suffering from Leukaemia has received a confidence boost about her chemotherapy hair loss thanks to a Cinderella party with a difference.

Leukaemia diagnosis

Five-year-old Isabella Harvey was first diagnosed with Leukaemia aged three, and lost her hair following chemotherapy treatment. She has recently started to feel self-conscious about her appearance. “When her hair fell out the first time she was three so she didn’t really understand”, said Isabella’s mother, Pina, “but now she is five and having a hard time dealing with it.”

Chemotherapy treatment often leads to partial or full hair loss, however it is not normally permanent. In most cases, hair growth normally resumes within a year of completing cancer treatment.

"She looks just like me!"

Wanting to help Isabella feel better about her hair loss, Pina got in touch with charity Gianna Nicole’s Heart of Hope, Bella Princess LLC and Mother Hubbard Photography, to arrange a special bald Cinderella party.

The model who came to the party was dressed as Cinderella but with a bald cap, which encouraged Isabella to feel more positive about the way she looked.

"At first she didn't want to go. Then, she said she would go with a hat on, and when we got there she still refused to take off her hat," Pina recalled. But when Cinderella walked in, confident even without hair, "she said, ‘she looks just like me!’. Her face lit up and seemed to relax a little. Isabella took off her hat. She was so happy and seemed more at ease taking pictures."

A fairy tale ending

Following the photo shoot, Isabella’s confidence has soared, and Pina is thrilled with the change in Isabella, "It re-enforces what I tell her every day -- that she is beautiful. That photo shoot just made her realize everyone feels the same way as [I do]. After all she went through ... it was such an amazing feeling seeing her so happy.”

Following the success of the photo shoot, the organisers are hoping they will be able to help other children with hair loss who may be going through a similar experience, "we're really hoping that it shows other little girls who may be going through cancer too, that you can be a perfect princess with or without hair," the photographer commented.