‘Inspirational’ boy, 7, makes pledge in honour of tragic five-year-old cousin

A seven-year-old boy in Trafford is cutting off his 47cm-long hair as part of a mission to raise money for two charities close to his heart and in memory of his late cousin.

Young Woody Challinor, from Urmston, has pledged to chop his hair off and donate it to the The Little Princess Trust Charity, an organisation that donates real hair wigs to children who have lost their own hair through cancer.

He will also be raising money for Kidscan, a children’s cancer research charity, which his cousin, Gracie McCall, was an ambassador for before her death at the age of five in 2017.

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Gracie was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer, known as Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour, at the age of just two, and died three years later when the cancer returned with three new tumours on her brain and spine.

Her family have continued to raise money for charities in Gracie’s name, with Woody’s mission being the latest to fundraise for the important organisation. For Woody, who has always grown his hair out, it’s a big move but a challenge he feels up to taking on.

“He’s always had long hair, it’s pretty much his signature look,” mum Lisa Murray tells the M.E.N. “He’ll often get mistaken for a girl for it but he doesn’t mind. He mentioned wanting to trim it last year as it’s starting to get a bit of a faff now.

“We knew someone else who had donated their hair to the Little Princess Trust Charity and we mentioned it to him to see how he felt about maybe doing that. He’s a really kind little boy, he’s done a couple of other fundraisers for other people before, and he said he definitely wanted to do it.

“He’s been growing it since last year just to make sure it’s long enough