Hair shorn to make wigs for ailing kids
Published: May 31, 2005
Mother and daughter Beth and Xian Eutsler donated their long hair to a good cause last week. Xian, 11, was one of more than 20 people who cut their hair and donated it to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to treatment for cancer.
Beth didn’t get a haircut, but she did donate hair. In 1980, Beth was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She underwent surgery instead of radiation but, because of a thyroid disorder, her hair began to fall out anyway. When she realized she would lose all her hair, she decided to cut it off and save it.
For 25 years, she’s had her long, light brown braid stored in a plastic bag, a memento of her struggle and victory over the disease. On Tuesday, Beth, now a social worker for Veteran’s Affairs oncology service, brought her long ponytail to add to the other donations. She said she was proud of her daughter’s willingness to give her hair and said she knows how much it will mean to the young patients who will receive the wigs.
“I didn’t have chemo or radiation, but it’s really hard for a lot of the patients,” she said. “Even men have a hard time with losing their hair.”
Tuesday’s mass haircut was organized by Monica Lucero, who cut her thick, dark hair off several years ago to donate to Locks of Love and wanted to donate again this summer. It wasn’t until she started talking to the stylists at Hair Innovations in Belen that she got the idea of inviting others to join her. Now the newly shorn citizens of Valencia County have the chance to appear in a documentary about the Locks of Love program.
“It was kind of an accident,” Lucero said. “I was looking to donate my hair and looking for a salon that I could get it done at. I had done it in Albuquerque before, but I saw that Locks of Love is putting together a documentary on people who are willing to donate their hair, and I thought how awesome it would be for our community to do that. It’s really an opportunity to get everyone else involved and let them become aware.”
Last Tuesday, eight stylists at Hair Innovations gave free cuts and styling to anyone who donated their hair to Locks of Love. After the salon advertised the event, the appointment slots quickly filled up. Lucero had 10 inches cut off her hair and then picked up her video camera and started filming the other donors as their hair was braided, bound with rubber bands at both ends and then cut off. Some were nonchalant about the proceedings. Others covered their eyes and cringed a bit as they heard the sound of the scissors starting to cut through their hair.
But no one backed out.
Ronnie Torres of Hair Innovations said the salon has done individual cuts for Locks of Love, but never such a large group. He said it was particularly inspiring to meet several young girls who wanted to give their hair for the cause.
“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “I started asking the stylists and they were more than happy to do it. We booked it up completely. I was totally surprised. There are so many kids who grew out their hair who couldn’t stand long hair but were growing it out just to give it to someone. Then we’ve had young girls who have wanted to cut their hair for ever and ever and their dads wouldn’t let them, but since it’s for a good cause, they let them do it.”
Lucero plans to submit the video to the Locks of Love organization and hopes to see it used in the documentary being compiled about the program. But even if Valencia County’s donors never show up on film, Lucero said she is proud of the turnout for the event and is considering organizing another donation in the future.
“It’s wonderful,” she said. “What is so exciting to me is that I don’t know any of these people, but all of their hearts are just ready to give and that is so awesome that there are so many people in our community who care.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: