Follow for more talkers

Girl who lost hair while battling brain tumor gets ‘jaw-dropping’ makeover

“I was really nervous going to the wedding, but then when people saw me, their jaws dropped.”

Avatar photo

Published

on
Pixiebelle Sykes' makeover. (Photo by Katie Sykes via SWNS)

By Douglas Whitbread via SWNS

A girl who tragically lost her hair while battling a brain tumor has been given a “jaw-dropping” make-over thanks to the work of a kind stylist.

Pixiebelle Sykes, 9, was born with long so hair that people would call her “Rapunzel” but her luscious locks fell out and later turned white after three rounds of chemotherapy.

However, the “beautiful” little girl couldn’t believe it when stylist Terri Leanne Daly, 31, completely transformed her hairdo in just 20 minutes for her aunt’s wedding.

And when she showed up at the ceremony a few days later, Pixiebelle said her friends and family were equally shocked at her remarkable new makeover.

She said: “I didn’t know what was going to happen until the end, but when I saw it, I was so impressed with it.

“I was really nervous going to the wedding, but then when people saw me, their jaws dropped.”

Her mum Katie Sykes, 35, who took her to the Salon in Manchester, didn’t expect that Pixiebelle’s hair, which was just a few inches long, could be styled.

But within minutes, she was reduced to floods of tears as the incredible trim - made from layered extensions - unfolded before her eyes.

Pixiebelle Sykes after she lost her hair. (

Katie said: “My sister, who was the bride, was just sitting there watching with me, and Pixiebelle was getting all these bobbles out and putting her hair in little ponytails.

“I was thinking, ‘What is she doing?’ and then the next thing, she went round the back and came out with all these hair extensions.

“And then we thought, “Oh my goodness!” And then the hair was getting bigger and bigger – and more beautiful by the second.

“Everyone was crying in the salon, including me and my sister. I really didn’t expect what she had come out with.”

Pixiebelle was diagnosed with a tumour, called a pilocytic astrocytoma, in June 2018 after Katie noticed she was losing sight in her right eye aged five, and then sought medical help.

She has since undergone four brain operations, 25 MRI scans and has lost her hair three times during her four years of brutal chemotherapy.

And while the cancerous growth shrunk during the course of these treatments, heartbreakingly it has started to increase in size again each time they ceased.

She is now taking part in a special trial to see if new medication might offer a solution to her devastating illness.

Pixiebelle Sykes' makeover. (Photo by Katie Sykes via SWNS)

Mum of two Katie, who works as a teacher in Ashton, Grtr. Manchester, said Pixiebelle always had surprisingly long hair when she was born, gaining the nickname 'Rapunzel'

Katie said: “She’d never actually had it cut since birth, and people used to call her ‘Rapunzel’ because it was so long – longer than an average five-year-old’s hair.

“It had natural highlights and it was just beautiful, and then as she progressed through chemotherapy it grew back.

“But then it fell out again, and the second time it fell out, it was a different story as she was getting older and she was more aware of what people were thinking.”

Katie took Pixiebelle to Do or Dye hair salon, which Terri owns, a few days before her sister’s wedding on august 27 to see if the stylists could help her.

But rather than doing a simple cut, Terri decided to use her impressive skills to give the little girl a make-over she wouldn't forget.

Terri said: “Her hair was only two to three inches long, and you could see her roots were super white.

"And Pixiebelle had said, ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to do anything else. Do anything you can just try and make it look a bit pretty, maybe put a plat across the front?’

“But we do extensions in the salon, and we specialize in them. And I found a load of pieces and gripped them all in her hair.

“I put loads of little bobbles all over her hair, and barreled them, so it looked like a wedding hairstyle.

"And literally, everyone was crying in the salon. It was so sweet.”

Terri said that Pixiebelle, who was seated too low in her chair to catch a glimpse of herself during the haircut, seemed "stunned" when she gazed upon her hairdo.

She said: “When she finally looked at herself, her face just lit up. She was just stunned.

“She didn’t really say very much, but her mum and aunt were crying, and I said, “Stop it now, because we’re all crying!”

“But obviously she felt pretty and beautiful, and it was just dead nice and rewarding.”

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers