Youngster from US to fly to UK to meet Aaron Mooy
- Read 7-year-old Bella’s story about Aaron Mooy
- US youngster to watch Mooy play live against Leicester City
- Bella spotted Mooy playing for Australia at the World Cup
A youngster from Dallas, USA will fly to the UK to meet one of her sources of inspiration whilst undergoing cancer treatment in the summer.
Bella, 7, lost her hair during treatment for Medulloblastoma – a form of brain cancer in children - and took solace in noticing the shaved head of Huddersfield Town midfielder Aaron Mooy playing for the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Bella and her father spent a lot of time watching the football in the summer with the radiation treatment leaving her fatigued on the couch, unable to go out and play.
The excitement of seeing Aaron prompted her parents to purchase a full Huddersfield Town kit with ‘MOOY 10’ printed on the back.
Huddersfield Town and Aaron became aware of Bella’s condition following a post on Instagram of her wearing her kit with the caption reading:
“She saw a World Cup player for Australia who shaves his head and was so happy because he had no hair like her. I did some research and he plays in the Premier League with Huddersfield Town. Long story short, she now has the full kit.”
Bella and her father will now travel to the UK as VIP guests of the Club to meet Aaron Mooy and watch him play live at the John Smith’s Stadium when Huddersfield Town take on Leicester City on Saturday 6 April 2019.
The VIP treatment will start in Texas, with Virgin Atlantic kindly organising First Class lounge access and some special treatment on the long journey to the UK.
The costs of Bella’s trip to the UK have been covered by Huddersfield-based PAXMAN, whose US operations are also headquartered in Texas. PAXMAN’s scalp cooling caps are a proven, effective way of preventing chemotherapy-induced hair loss resulting in a high level of retention or completely preserving the hair.
Bella will also be staying in Manor House free of charge for the duration of her stay in West Yorkshire.
Bella’s mother, Lauren, explained:
“During her radiation treatment, Bella watched the FIFA World Cup with Daddy and saw Aaron Mooy playing. She had recently lost her hair due to treatment and was excited to see a player who looked like her.
“Daddy also played the FIFA World Cup Mobile game on his iPad, so he went and added Mooy as a player on his team there so she could watch him play frequently, even if he wasn’t playing in real life.
“We decided to order her a Mooy uniform a few months ago, thinking she might wear it at Halloween, or even just for fun; something she could wear and hopefully not worry about the fact that she had lost her hair… she loved it.
“Her treatment has been going well so far and we hope we are at the end of it now. We’re just waiting for her immune system to recover. Her and her twin are Christmas Day babies and we hope that by their 7th birthday we can be back to some sense of normality.
“Right now, her hobbies are pretty similar to any young kid; she loves to play, and Barbies and Lego are some of her favourite toys at the moment. She also loves doing arts and crafts and enjoys going to school.
“We do take Tae Kwon Do as a family and hopefully she will be able to return to that soon as well. As expected, she stopped when she was diagnosed.
“She is a pretty normal little girl who had some very hard circumstances thrown at her, but she has such an amazing spirit, she has met all of these challenges with a smile on her face.”
Huddersfield Town’s Commercial Director Sean Jarvis added:
“Everyone at the Club is looking forward to welcoming Bella over for her special trip in early April. Her story, and bravery, are extraordinary and she thoroughly deserves what should hopefully be a very special experience.
“The fact that she relates to Aaron’s shaved head is really beautiful and as soon as Aaron heard, he shared our desire to do something special for Bella and her family.
“I must extend a massive thank you to our friends at Paxman Scalp Cooling. Without their support, both financially and in the organisation, Bella’s visit wouldn’t have been possible. Paxman does some absolutely incredible work in this area and it is truly fitting that they’ve played such a big part in getting Bella and her father over to Huddersfield.”
Glenn Paxman founder of PAXMAN added:
“Our family personally understand how difficult hair loss through cancer treatment can be for people of all ages and we are delighted to support Bella’s special visit to our home team. We are all excited to meet her soon!”
