Dubai pupil who survived cancer has flowing locks chopped to make wigs
▶ Aurelia Reeves, 11, had rare form of illness requiring stem-cell transplant at age of five months
An 11-year-old cancer survivor has raised more than Dh11,000 ($2,995) and donated her hair to children battling the disease on the anniversary of her stem cell treatment.
British-German Aurelia Reeves, a Year 6 pupil at Swiss International School Dubai, last month donated 33cm of her hair to The Little Princess Trust, a UK-based charity that provides free real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their locks due to cancer treatment.
The pupil, along with her friends, family and local community, have also raised Dh11,500 for Al Jalila Foundation,
a UAE charity dedicated to ensuring those unable to afford health care are treated.
Aurelia had hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare and life-threatening form of cancer that causes white blood cells to attack the body’s organs, diagnosed when she was only four months old. It is usually inherited and affects babies from birth to 18 months.
A stem cell transplant is the only way to cure familial HLH. If left untreated, it can be fatal within weeks or months.
Aurelia received a transplant when she was five months old. The treatment involved receiving 50 litres of blood from a stem cell donor.
“I’m an HLH survivor and that makes it really important for me to give back because unfortunately many people do not survive HLH,” she said.
Aurelia said she had mixed feelings about donating her hair since she would “look a little different”, but was relieved her donation will make “many
children happy”. “I also just wanted to spread some good news around the world, since there is a lot going on right now,” she said.
Aurelia, who first cut her hair in 2022 aged nine, said she has been growing it ever since for the donation.
“You get used to it. I look very beautiful with it [long hair],” she told The National. Wigs can help other cancer patients regain their confidence, she added. “I don’t want anything to hold them back,” she said. “Having a wig will help them find their passion again.”
Aurelia has also been an inspiration to her peers, with three of her friends also deciding to grow and donate their hair to charity.
The pupil has spent years coming up with creative ways to raise money for various cancer charities abroad and in the UAE.
She has also adopted two whales, a whale shark, a turtle, and a lamb through the World Wildlife Fund.
In 2022, she raised €1,200 ($1,303) for the hospital in Freiburg, Germany, where she received her transplant, after selling 140 cards made from dried flowers from her grandmother’s garden.
The money, she said, was to support the hospital in building a new children’s ward.
“The hospital has a team of doctors that saved my life,” she said. A year later, Aurelia sold a further 160 cards, raising €1,052 for a wildlife sanctuary in Germany.
The pupil, along with her friends, have also used her school’s business fair to donate part of their proceeds to the Emirates Red Crescent to support Palestinians in Gaza.
Shona Galstadi, head of primary at Swiss International School Dubai, said Aurelia’s story was an inspiration to the entire school.
“She is a credit to our school and her passion for charitable causes – including animal welfare and environmental issues – is infectious,” she said.
Aurelia aims to set up a stem cell database in the UAE, which “will save a lot of lives”, she said.
“We’re very proud of her,” Aurelia’s mother, Isabel Reeves, told The National.
“I think what gives us the greatest joy is that she has taken her journey and turned it into something positive.”