6-year-old donates hair for wigs
Published: June 9, 2005
Deanna Egger remembers when she gave 6-year-old Haley Abb her first haircut.
Haley, who was only 5 months old, wobbly sat on her mother’s lap and “was so cute,” Egger, owner of Dee’s Barber Shop, 510 W. Centerway St., said with a laugh.
Although Egger has continued periodically trimming Haley’s hair since, that was her last real haircut, Haley’s mother, Shelley Bengtson, said.
That was until Tuesday afternoon, when Egger removed nearly a foot of Haley’s hair. Haley and her mother decided to have Haley’s hair cut short for the first time in her life so she could donate the trimmings to Locks of Love, an organization that provides free wigs to children who suffer from disease-caused hair loss.
Bengtson said it was Egger who first approached her about donating her daughter’s hair.
Haley, who will be in the first grade at Washington Elementary next school year, was a bit apprehensive at first. But when she saw pictures of those affected on the Locks of Love Web site, she grew excited to help out other children.
“She was so excited and said ‘I want my hair to go to a little girl,’” Bengtson said. “She’s been wanting her hair cut for quite a long time, and this actually was perfect. We let her hair grow for a while.
“Deanna brought it up, but (Haley) is the one who really wanted to go through with it,” she added.
Haley sat in the barber chair calmly waiting for the cut. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a smile was on her face.
She had said earlier that she was glad her hair would help other “little kids.”
“If they’re sick, then the hair will help them not feel sick,” she said.
With a few motions of the scissors, Haley’s hair came off. Her teary-eyed mother said, “I’m so proud of you,” and Haley yelled, “Cool!”
Haley’s hair will be mailed to the not-for-profit organization based in Lake Worth, Fla. Once there, it will undergo a lengthy manufacturing process that will eventually transform it into a custom-fitted wig for a financially disadvantaged child without hair.
Locks of Love receives more than 2,000 hair donations each week, about 80 percent of which are from children, according to its Web site. Children who receive wig donations typically suffer from a condition called alopecia areata, which causes unexplained hair loss.
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