South Shore girl with a heart defect shows off new hair cut as she raises £300 for The Little Princess Trust

Nine-year-old Scarlette-Jane Thompson, of South Shore, had 10 inches of hair chopped off at Mario’s Hair and Beauty, Blackpool, to help The Little Princess Trust make wigs for poorly children.

Her mum, Stacey, said: “The final amount raised was £310.22 and now I have sent the hair donation and the money off to The Princess Trust. I am really proud of her, She has had a rough time herself but she wanted to look at the positives and help people.”

Scarlette, a St Annes College Grammar School pupil, was born with a severe congenital heart defect.

She spent the first six weeks of her life in and out of Victoria Hospital as doctors figured out what was wrong after she was struggling to breathe and eat. She was referred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and had heart surgery after being diagnosed severe pulmonary stenosis and a hole in her heart. She was given a balloon pulmonary valvotomy to stretch the artery. Although there is no cure, the family hopes she will get to the age of 12 before she has to have a transplant for the broken heart valve.