The daddy-daughter bond knows no bounds, but one determined dad has become a legend on London’s Oxford Street for risking arrest to make his little girl’s day.
Commuters and business owners on the hectic shopping street stopped in their tracks mid morning rush to take a closer look at a small tree that mysteriously appeared in the middle of the pavement.
Attached to the sapling was a note from a little girl called Arrabella. It read:
“Dear Everybody,
My name is Arrabella Cornelius. I am 7.
I have planted this tree here for everyone to watch it grow and enjoy.
Please respect it as I bought it with my own money. Plus my Daddy risked getting arrested planting it!
Arrabella xx
#Mytreelondon”
The tree and its lovely message warmed the cockles of the Internet at large and it wasn’t long before a newspaper revealed the guerrilla gardener to be single dad Neil Cornelius (40)
A photo posted by Cornelius (@mr.cornelius) on
Cornelius, a hair stylist to the celebs on Bond Street, told the Standard:
“I walked past this spot every day on my way to work and noticed some idiots had snapped the tree in half. The council removed it eventually but never replaced it.
“I took Arrabella past it and she said: ‘Daddy, we should just come out when it’s dark and plant a new one.’
“I said: ‘We’ll probably get arrested.’”
Undeterred, Arrabella marched her dad to the garden centre, where she purchased a small tree using her pocket money.
Under cover of darkness, her dad agreed to plant it. When the story hit the headlines, one Instagram user shared this image of an interesting sight she’d come across the previous evening…
Watch this adorable pair set out on their planting adventure here…
A video posted by Cornelius (@mr.cornelius) on
