A 12-year-old girl from Wednesbury has braved the big chop and raised over £300 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity after cutting off her luscious locks. 

Amy Pope decided to grow her hair after her mum, Sharon, came up with the suggestion that she could use her hair to raise money for charity, whilst supporting youngsters by donating the hair to a wig-making charity once it was chopped. The thought of helping others really excited Amy, so she patiently grew her hair out for over two years.  

Soon after Amy decided to grow her hair for charity, her big brother, Nathan, started experiencing some heart problems. Nathan’s heartbeat would race unexpectedly. It was a scary time for the family. During one particularly bad episode, the family called an ambulance, and the paramedic who attended told them he suspected Nathan may have Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome, a condition where the heart beats abnormally fast for periods of time.  Nathan was referred to the specialist cardiology department at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where he underwent various tests, which confirmed the diagnosis. It was likely Nathan was born with the condition, but it hadn’t presented itself until the age of 14. 

Nathan is still undergoing treatment at the hospital and managing his condition with medication, while he awaits surgery.  After seeing her brother's ordeal, and the wonderful care he’s received at the Children’s, Amy felt motivated to choose the hospital’s charity as one of the causes to support for her sponsored hair chop.  

When the day finally came to cut her hair, Sharon enlisted the help of family friend who owns a mobile hair dressing business, Hair Vibes.  Whilst Amy was sad to say goodbye to her long hair, she happily did so, thinking about all the people it will help thanks to her family and friends who donate so generously to raise the impressive total. 

Amy said: “It was very scary to watch my brother be so sick, but it made me think about the Children’s Hospital and how many other kids they help. The hospital is now really close to my heart and I wanted to help them any way I can. People say I was brave to chop all my hair off, but I just thought about all the brave patients. Knowing the money I raised could save a life makes me feel extremely proud.” 

Miranda Williams, Head of Public Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Hair is such a personal thing to a young girl and for Amy to chop hers off and donate it to raise funds for our sick kids is something we are so inspired by. Her kind-hearted nature should be a lesson to us all, that we can always find a way to help somebody in need.”