Influencer Nara Smith is reflecting on how daily moments with her 2-year-old daughter, Whimsy, have changed amid the toddler’s cancer battle.
“Cancer has a way of taking things you never realized you’d grieve,” Smith wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, July 7. “The day I ran my fingers through her hair, strands coating them, I realized I wouldn’t be brushing Whimsy’s hair much longer. It’s such a small thing, until it isn’t. Tiny curls on her pillow. Hair caught in my fingers after bath time. Hair loss is one of the first visible reminders that life has changed.”
She continued, “Watching Whimsy lose hers has been one of the hardest parts of this journey. It wasn’t just hair. It was the little curls I tucked behind her ears, the wispy strands that caught the sunlight, and all the ordinary moments I never imagined I’d miss.”
Alongside the message, she shared a glimpse of herself kissing her daughter’s head while Nara’s husband, Lucky Blue Smith, held onto their little one. (Nara and Lucky are also the parents of daughter Rumble Honey, 5, son Slim Easy, 4, and daughter Fawnie Golden, 9 months. Lucky previously welcomed daughter Gravity in 2017 with ex Stormi Bree Henley.)
In another clip, Nara rested her head on Lucky’s shoulder as he shaved their daughter’s hair. A final video showed their daughter walking down a hallway with a bald head while wearing a dress.
“Changes,” Nara wrote over the clip, alongside a simple white heart emoji.
Her caption continued, “If sharing these pieces of our story helps even one family feel less alone, or encourages one person to learn more about childhood cancer, then this vulnerable part of our lives is worth opening. Today her curls are returning🤍.”
Nara shared in June that Whimsy was diagnosed with cancer “late last year” after being brought to a pediatrician to have “something suspicious” on her body examined.
“When we took her into our pediatrician, I just remember him going really quiet and calm … My heart dropped in that moment,” she said via Instagram at the time. “I don’t know whether it was my gut telling me something or just a mom’s intuition, but the first thing that I felt was she has cancer.”
Whimsy underwent “a lot of X-rays, ultrasounds and finally a biopsy.” Nara and Lucky were called “immediately” afterward and told that she has cancer.
“[They] told us it had spread and that she needs to come and start chemo treatments immediately,” Nara recalled.
The influencer later shared a series of photos of Whimsy amid her health battle — including one showing her with a bedazzled head.
“Little warrior girl🎀,” Nara wrote via Instagram on Friday, July 3. “Sharing something this vulnerable wasn’t an easy decision but seeing every message, prayer, story of a similar experience and kindness has made it a little easier. To every family or parent walking through something heavy right now, we’re thinking of you too🤍.”
