Urban Living: Virginia Artist Transforms Helmet Into Tiara For 5-Year-Old Shot In The Head
A little 5-year-old girl who was shot in the head in Henrico County two months ago, is well on the way to recovery. Her community is fully behind her. Kemiyah Edwards’ new normal life is filled with doctor appointments, re-learning activities and information, and wearing a protective helmet nearly every hour of the day, according to her loved ones. In fact, a Virginia artist, Tami Topalu, transformed Kemiyah’s helmet into a treasured tiara, complete with her favorite colors, pink and purple, and all the bling a little girl could ever want. This was done within the early hours of the morning and completed just in time for Kemiyah when she woke up.
“When I heard, oh my God. It just broke my heart,” Topalu said.
She first told Kemiyah’s grandmother about her idea to deck out the helmet.
“I said, ‘You know she has to wear this helmet, can I decorate it?’ Paulette said, ‘That’s a great idea. But the problem is she can never take it off, only when she sleeps,’” Topalu said.
Meanwhile, very early in the morning,
“She ran around the backyard and we’re telling her how beautiful she is. Finally, she goes ‘I don’t know what I look like.’ So, I took her in the house and held her up to a mirror and she said, ‘I’m beautiful!’ So that just meant everything. Staying up till 3 in the morning was worth it,” Topalu said.
The artist also gave the 5-year-old a pink and purple treasure box to store her tiara. The side of the box simply reads, “Nothing is impossible.”
“Once I saw that I knew that nothing would be impossible for her to conquer,” Topalu said.
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