Galway four-year-old inspired to make amazing gesture to child with cancer

Meet little Róisín Smith from Galway and her remarkable friend Lucy O’Connor.

Fri, 06 Mar, 2015 - 14:33

Shaun Cronin

Meet little Róisín Smith from Galway and her remarkable friend Lucy O’Connor.

Lucy was diagnosed with lymphoma at just nine years old last September.

She has now lost all her hair as a result of the chemotherapy she's been receiving to treat her condition.

Last month, four-year-old Róisín came across a picture of Lucy on the family computer and asked her parents why the girl on the screen had lost all her hair.

Her mother Caroline and father Ralph gently explained to Róisín that the girl she saw (Lucy) was very sick and that the medicine to make her better made her lose her hair.

Immediately, Róisín told her astounded parents that she wanted to give her long locks to Lucy.

The amazing part of the gesture is - the two girls had never even met!

Róisín Smith

Lucy is from Kildare, and the connection between the two girls stems from a business relationship between Róisín’s father Ralph and Lucy’s mother Angela - cofounders of the dubnet.biz website.

Róisín’s parents were a little unsure at first about letting her cut the hair, but after giving their daughter a few weeks to think about what she wanted to do - Róisín was still adamant that she wanted to help.

The Ardrahan family watched videos of hair donations by children online to help Róisín understand what she was about to do, and this led them to the Little Princess Trust charity.

Little Princess Trust charity charity helps provide real hair wigs to children in Ireland and the UK who have lost their hair through chemotherapy .

After hearing of Róisín’s plan, Lucy reached out to her and the two have been swapping videos back and forth.

Róisín’s hair is set for the chop at Leah Kelly Hair Designs in Gort at 3.30pm tomorrow and her family have set up an online donation page for her.

All funds raised will go to Lucy’s chosen charity BUMBLEance.

Róisín’s attends preschool at Enfant Educare in Ardrahan and they raised €640 for Róisín’s cause by hosting a teddy bear picnic.

That donation now brings Róisín’s total to €2,045 and she - along with her family - hope to hit the €3,000 mark before the haircut tomorrow.

Speaking to breakingnews.ie, Mum Caroline was full of praise for her little girl’s extraordinary act of generosity.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” said Caroline.

“I was a little nervous at the start and we gave her five weeks to think of it. She still wants to do it, so tomorrow’s the day.”

“She really wanted to do this for Lucy and is going to get it cut about shoulder length.”

Caroline also added her younger daughter Ciara, 3, wanted to follow in her big sister’s footsteps - but her hair isn’t long enough just yet, as the charity requires a minimum of seven inches of length to donate.