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FACTS
| In heavily populated China the government allow couples to have only one child. Boys are generally preferred to girls.
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 |  | While most fathers have to fight their teenage daughters for the bathroom in the mornings, Kevin Grumball has no such problem.
His daughter's hair routine takes no time at all - because she's shaved her head - and made her dad really proud.
But then the Grumballs are rather a special family. Charlotte and kevin Grumball have four children of their own and little Rui Rui who'sfrom China.
And it's Rui Rui who's inspired Susannah's selfless act.
In April 2000, I went out to Tianjin in North East China, with my eldest son, to work as a volunteer in the Tianjin orphanage for
handicapped children.
While I was there, I met Rui Rui , who was then two, and who had Tetralogy of Fallot - a major heart condition. She'd been abandoned by her parents in a security outpost when 15 months
old, presumably because they couldn't afford to pay for the operation that Rui Rui needed.
World famous heart surgeon
The surgery required was too complex for the
local hospitals and, as I have a medical background, I set about finding a UK surgeon who could perform the operation.
Sir Magdi Yacoub offered his services and we arranged for Rui Rui to come to the UK and
live with us.
听Seven children in a tiny room
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| 听 |  | Rui Rui was abandoned by her parents in China
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My daughter Susannah went out with her mother in June 2000 to collect Rui Rui and bring her home.
While she was there, she met some of the other orphans in Rui Rui's room.
She lived with about 7 children in a 10' x 10'
room.
Susannah played with those children, who had a variety of problems like spina bifida or cerebral palsy, and became their friend.
She couldn't forget the ones left behind
Rui Rui had her full heart repair done last year and is now a bouncy 4 year old, whom we're trying to adopt.
Susannah, however, still remembered the children that she'd had to leave behind. She wanted to help them too, so she came up with the idea of shaving her head.
听I'm so proud of my daughter
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| 听 |  | Susannah before she cut her hair off and shaved her head
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At first we were horrified and worried about how others would react,
but when your children want to do something admirable, you have to
remember why you became a parent.
Every father wants to be proud of his children and here was Susannah offering to make me proud. How could we stand in her way?
听| 听 |  | Rui Rui enjoys a family dinner in Warwickshire
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We set goals with her, so that her sacrifice would not be in vain. If she raised 拢100, she'd only have her hair cut short. If it got to 拢300 then she'd have it all cut off.
If it got to 拢500 then she could have a non-permanent tattoo on her bald scalp.
She's raised over 拢1000 already, with more money promised.
听It'll take a year to grow back
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Her friends rallied round her - many came to the cutting - and her school have been very supportive.
We estimate it will take a year to grow back to its original length. Of course, that's if she doesn't want to do it all again. :-)
听If you want to support Susannah and donate money to help the orphans in China - you can visit a special website she's set up called where you'll find more details about her aims and of how to donate.
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