MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Seven-year-old Mila Freeman has a feisty personality that helped her survive terminal brain cancer, but bullying at school over her bald head was crushing her confidence until a Richmond-area wig shop owner stepped in to help.
"She's a ray of sunshine everywhere she goes," Mila's mother Kristin Lux said. "She's very bubbly, upbeat, independent… anything hands on, she's all about."
"She's a fighter and motivation for a ton of people, especially me, to be a greater person," Mila's father James Freeman said.
Her parents said their daughter's traits were necessary for the battle she began when she was just 2 years old when she was diagnosed with glioblastoma grade 4.
"That is a terminal brain cancer," Lux said. "She beat all the odds that were going against her."
Lux said Mila never let the cancer treatment get to her.
But sometimes what comes after those battles can be the toughest.
"She didn't want to go to school every morning and it was hard just to get her dressed," Lux said. "She told me that the kids were pointing at her bald head and laughing, making fun, that's how she described it to me. And I was like 'So why don't you tell the teacher?' And she said, 'the teachers do say something, but it's not enough.'"
"It hurts me when my daughter doesn't feel confident because I know the kind of person she is," Freeman added.
Lux's prayers for a solution were answered when a social media connection put her in touch with Lameisha Weatherspoon, the owner of Bombshell Wigs Galore in Midlothian.
"Instantly there was a connection," Lux said.
Weatherspoon knows a thing or two about what a new hairdo can do for someone.
"I've been making wigs for about 10 years," Weatherspoon said. "When you walk into the room you want to feel confident and I know that comes more so when you feel good about yourself on the inside and the outside."
When she heard Mila's story, she was touched.
"I wanted to sponsor her actual top installation because they're completely new to it. So I wanted her to feel comfortable," Weatherspoon said. "She's definitely a fighter that energy is fierce in there."
Last Saturday, Mila spent a few hours at Bombshell Wigs Galore while Weatherspoon worked her magic. In the end, the cancer survivor was happy with her new look.
"Nobody is going to bully me at school," Mila said.
"It's amazing what they're doing for our daughter and us," Lux added.
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