A big-hearted schoolboy who is growing his hair to make wigs for cancer sufferers has told how bullies taunt him for “looking like a girl”.
Tobi Boler, nine, started growing his locks in 2015 after aunt Kath Morris lost her hair through cancer treatment.
Now it is 13 inches long – enough to make two wigs for children with cancer – and he plans to chop it off and donate it to the Little Princess Trust.
But Tobi says he has been taunted by cruel bullies who have been calling him a “girl” and a “little princess” for the last few years.
Undeterred, he has raised more than £1,000 for the charity, and will finally lose his locks next month.
Tobi, of Southminster, said: “I wanted to grow my hair for charity because it’s a good thing to do. I wanted to help other people have a better lifestyle.
“Some people get called names because they are bald.
“In school some kids call me a little princess and say I look like a girl.
"I just know to ignore it because they are only trying to be mean.”
Tobi decided to start growing his hair for the Little Princess Trust in 2015 when his aunt was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
She lost her hair during treatment, and when Tobi found out why, he wanted to help others.
But when his hair began to grow, mum Carlie claims her son was bullied for his appearance.
The mum-of-three said: “It started off on the football pitch with the team he plays for.
“The other team would call him a girl and it upset him.
“He’s had people stare at him. When we’re out shopping people have said things like ‘what a pretty girl you have’.
"It's not nice and it grates on him.
“People say things like ‘surely that’s not a boy’.”
The treatment Tobi has received has been “really upsetting” for him.
Carlie said he has come home from school in tears after being told he has “long hair like a girl”.
She added: “He gets called a girl and he gets teased about it a lot, but he’s proud of what he’s doing and he doesn’t hide it.
“People have asked him why he wears boys’ clothes if he’s a girl.
"He takes it well but it does upset him when he’s at home.
“For me it’s heartbreaking because I can see he is trying to do something good.”
To donate to Tobi’s appeal, search ‘Tobi’s fundraiser for The Little Princess Trust’ on Facebook.
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