Bus driver braids hair of school girl every day after her mother died of rare illness

Her father originally gave her a crew cut to avoid styling mishaps

A bus driver has been praised as the ultimate do-gooder for helping an 11-year-old school girl style her hair every morning after her mother tragically passed away two years ago from a rare illness.

Isabella Pieri lives with her father, Philip, in Alpine, Utah and had longed for someone to style her hair for school since her mother’s passing.

Though she had learned to be almost entirely independent when preparing for school, hairstyling remained the one area Pieri needed help with, something her father confessed to being fairly incompetent at.

Pieri now looks forward to school to see what hair style Dean will try next (KSL TV)

“I originally just gave her a crew cut because I didn’t know how, and it was all tangled and I couldn’t get it out for anything,” he told KSL TV.

It wasn’t until Pieri noticed Dean braiding someone else’s hair on the bus one morning that she plucked up the courage to ask her to style hers too.

She happily obliged and Dean now styles several school girls’ hair on the bus every morning.

“You treat them like your own kids, you know,” she said, “it makes me feel happy that they are happy”.

A mother herself, Dean revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago, prompting concerns about who would take care of her own children without her.

Pieri said she now looks at Dean like a mother, adding that her kindness makes her excited to go to school to see what hairstyle she will give her that morning.

Since then, Pieri’s teachers have noticed a difference in her behaviour, revealing that “she had a little more of a step” at school on the first morning Dean styled her hair.

Her father has been incredibly touched by Dean's kindness (KSL TV)

Pieri’s father has expressed his eternal gratitude towards Dean for her actions, praising her for her generosity:

“Tracy didn't have to step up, but she stepped up to help out, I was amazed,” he said.