A mother shared the touching moment her little girl was given a doll that has the same birthmark as her.
Harriet Morris, from Wirral, Merseyside, documented Cici’s reaction after being surprised with the toy in a viral TikTok, with the delighted two-year-old exclaiming: “It looks like me!”
The mother explained that “her mission” was to remind Cici, who has a red birthmark on her left cheek, “how beautiful she is.” She added that the doll goes a long way toward making her daughter feel good about herself.
Harriet said: ‘We gave the doll to Cici and she hasn’t let it out of her sight since! She even sleeps with him.
“She was very excited and said that the doll is ‘just like me.'” This is the first time Cici has seen someone represented like her and she ends the video with “I love her.”
Harriet Morris, from Wirral, Merseyside, documented Cici’s reaction after being surprised with the toy in a viral TikTok, with the delighted two-year-old exclaiming: “It looks like me!”
The doll is part of Aldi’s new doll range and Harriet said she is grateful to the retailer for producing toys that represented little girls like Cici.
Cici named her new toy ‘Dolly’ and the doll has since replaced her ‘beloved bunny’, Harriet revealed.
She added that although she initially posted the TikTok in the hope that someone at Aldi would see it, Harriet was unprepared for the overwhelming response to her video.
“I posted it on my TikTok hoping Aldi would see it, like it or comment on it, but the response it got blew me away,” he said.
‘I never expected such a surprising response, I cried reading certain comments. It really just showed how much this type of representation was necessary for little ones like Cici.’
A few days after Cici’s birth, her parents noticed that a small red mark had appeared under her eye, before it became “very dark,” Harriet said.
“It turned out to be a birthmark called a hemangioma or also known as a strawberry mark,” he continued.
Cici’s doctors were concerned about the risk of the hemangioma growing and spreading to the eye, so they prescribed a heart medication called propranolol that “stops blood flow” to the birthmark.
The mother explained that “her mission” was to remind Cici, who has a red birthmark on her left cheek, “how beautiful she is.”
Harriet added that the doll goes a long way toward making her daughter feel good about herself.
Harriet said: ‘When he was born, after a few days a red mark appeared under his eye which quickly became very dark.
«It turned out to be a birthmark called a hemangioma or also known as a strawberry mark. Cici underwent MRIs, heart scans and many doctor appointments before she was told to take a medication called propranolol.
‘He was at it for nine months. It is a heart medication that stops blood flow to the hemangioma, as there was a risk of it growing and entering his eyes.
“After this, when he turned two in January, he started laser treatments on his birthmark,” she continued.
Cici’s parents decided to go ahead with laser treatment because they were concerned that “she might be bullied or feel different when she starts school.”
“We felt this was best for her even though we grew to love her birthmark,” Harriet said, adding that Cici is almost done with treatment.
‘He is very well, he has almost disappeared and he is very weak. He had a laser session at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital last week, which is why he has laser dots on his mark in the video.
Harriet said: ‘We gave the doll to Cici and she hasn’t let it out of her sight since! He even sleeps with it’
The doll is part of Aldi’s new doll range and Harriet said she is grateful to the retailer for producing toys that represented little girls like Cici.
She added that while she initially posted the TikTok in the hope that someone at Aldi would see it, Harriet was unprepared for the overwhelming response to her video.
‘We don’t think he needs any more sessions, possibly one more before he starts school.
“When she was born she was opaque, more or less purple, whereas now we can see her skin through it, it is very faint, so the treatments have worked wonders,” he added.
Harriet added that Cici has been “incredibly brave” throughout her treatment, adding that she is “commonly known for how happy, talkative and fun she is.”
The proud mother said: “My mission is to remind her every day how beautiful she is and that her birthmark makes her special.”
