BULLIED BOY, 11, GREW 18 INCHES OF HAIR FOR CANCER KIDS

Jacob McPeake, an 11-year-old rugby player from Gloucester, kept growing his hair through teasing, then had 18 inches cut off to donate to The Little Princess Trust. He did it in memory of three grandparents who had cancer, and he raised £1,230 for the charity, which provides wigs to children who lose their hair through cancer treatment.

The hair did not get to that length quietly. As it grew, Jacob took a lot of teasing and taunting about it.

His mother, Sally, said the comments got to him. At one point he considered cutting it earlier than planned, which would have meant giving up the length the charity needs for its wigs.

He kept going, and he had some famous backup.

A letter from a rugby star

Jacob played rugby for the Brockworth Badgers, and he was a keen sportsman in general. Guy Thompson, an ambassador for The Little Princess Trust, had played for Wasps and Leicester Tigers before joining Ealing Trailfinders. Thompson wrote Jacob a letter.

“I am sorry to hear that some people have made some silly comments about your long hair,” he began.

Thompson had been through it himself. “Just like you, I also play rugby and I, too, grew my hair very long so I could donate it to The Little Princess Trust,” he wrote.

Then he took on the idea that long hair and rugby do not mix. “I want you to know that your long hair does not make you any less of a rugby player or a person – in fact, I think it shows just what an independent and strong individual you are,” he wrote.

“And it also shows you are incredibly generous and kind,” he added.

Thompson also pulled the message back to the game they both played. “Rugby is a brilliant team game and the best players in our sport are unselfish and always think of their teammates,” he wrote.

“We can take these lessons from rugby and use them in life, and I think this is exactly what you have done with your support of LPT.”

Sally said Jacob was delighted to hear from a star of the rugby world.

The haircut and the payoff

Jacob had his hair cut in the week the charity published his story, July 29, 2021. In the end he donated 18 inches, and the £1,230 he raised will go toward wigs for children who have lost their hair to cancer treatment.

Thompson kept cheering him on in public. In a LinkedIn post on August 7, 2021, he called Jacob “rugby-mad” and wrote, “This was such a brave decision to continue by Jacob.” He congratulated the boy and said the people who bullied him “should Be ashamed.”

The story did not stay in 2021. It went viral on X years later after a user named Massimo shared it, The Economic Times reported.

It then turned up on Reddit’s r/BeAmazed on August 12, 2026, under a post about the 11-year-old who was bullied for growing his hair.