A MUM shared an adorable video of her daughter beaming with pride as she showed off her new hair clip.
But the video isn't all that it seems – this is the first time the little girl in the clip, Vera, has been able to wear a bow in her hair in months.
Her mum Monica Elisa Padilla, who uploaded the video to her Instagram page, revealed that little Vera had lost her hair due to chemo, after receiving a devastating diagnosis a year earlier.
The now four-year-old was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in July 2022.
This is the most common type of leukaemia – blood cancer – to affect children, according to Cancer Research UK. That said, it's still rare, with only 790 people in the UK diagnosed with it yearly.
It starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow, which is the soft inner part of the bones where new blood cells are made, and can develop quickly over days or weeks.
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Vera lost all her hair after undergoing chemotherapy to fight the cancer, and struggled with her confidence as a result, her mum Monica wrote in a post accompanying the clip.
"Since losing her hair she has struggled with her appearance; from not wanting to look in the mirror, to not wanting to face time friends, to feeling like she needs to overcompensate for her lack of hair with make up," she said.
With her hair long enough to put a bow in it for the first time in nine months, it's no wonder the tot was glowing with pride.
Monica said: "This is such a huge milestone! Hair is not just hair, it’s part of your identity, it’s part of who you were before cancer.
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"And when cancer takes away your ability to use hair as self expression, confidence and self-esteem can be taken with it."
She added that her daughter's confidence seemed to be retruning along with her tresses.
"Lately we have seen a lot of her confidence come back and asking less about when her hair will be “princess length” again," Monica wrote.
"I can really feel her shine and I am so proud of her owning her look!"
What are the symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia?
Symptoms can be similar to those caused by other illnesses.
They're a result of too many abnormal white blood cells and not enough normal white cells, red cells and platelets.
Symptoms might include one or more of the following:
- feeling weak or tired
- flu-like symptoms
- a high temperature
- picking up or not being able to shake off infections such as coughs and colds
- bruising and bleeding easily
- weight loss
- swelling of your lymph nodes
- pain in your bones or joints
- breathlessness
- feeling full in your tummy
- looking pale or washed out
Remember these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, but you should get them checked out by a GP.
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