As mum Kelsey Pearce can testify, trying to convince a young Rapunzel fan to trim the hair she’s been growing since birth is no mean feat.

“Every time I’ve mentioned it she’s cried because she’s like ‘I want to be like Rapunzel’,” Ms Pearce said.

But that all changed the minute Delilah learnt that for some children, letting down their hair was not an option.

“She just asked me one day why some people don’t have any hair and I said to her that some people choose to cut their hair short and some people get sick and they can’t grow their hair,” Ms Pearce said.

“Because she’s got such long hair and has never cut it she was like ‘Well they could have some of my hair’.”

Taken aback by her daughter’s extraordinary generosity, Ms Pearce wanted to make sure Delilah would not regret her decision, but the little girl was adamant, saying “my hair will grow back and other people’s won’t”.

Even when given the option of just donating some of her hair, Delilah insisted she wanted it “really short like her poppy because the longer she cuts it the longer the other girl gets to have her hair”.

Then when Delilah found out it could cost up to $6000 for a child to secure a wig, even once the hair was donated, she wanted to help out there as well and the family have now started a fundraiser.

“She was like ‘We can just give them some of our money’,” Ms Pearce said.

“I said ‘I don’t have $6000 to give to them, maybe we could ask nanna and poppy and all our friends and that’s where the fundraising came along, it’s all been her own idea which just blows me away for a three-year-old.”

While Ms Pearce said she always knew Delilah was a thoughtful child, the extent of her empathy still surprised her.

“She doesn’t see it as a big deal because she’s like ‘I’ve got long hair so I can cut it and give it to people who don’t, why is that a big deal, doing the right thing?’,” she said.

“I just think, what sort of difference is she going to make in the future if this is what she’s doing at three.”

Delilah plans to cut her hair in March when it has grown long enough to form into a wig, and all money the family raises will go to children’s charity Variety.

To donate visit alopecia.everydayhero.com/au/Delilahs-hair