Teen donates her hair to make wigs for sick children
Published: August 9, 2005
Thirteen-year-old Megan Smith of Lookingglass sat cringing in a chair at West Side Salon Friday, waiting for the stylist to take scissors to her waist-length, honey-colored hair.
“I’ll probably have to close my eyes,” she said in anticipation.
Moments later, Sue Bailey, who owns the salon, began laboring through Smith’s inch-wide ponytail.
“That is a lot of hair,” said Smith’s mother, Jane Smith, who looked on with a tinge of angst across her face.
Though Smith had been growing her hair out since the third grade, the soon-to-be eighth-grader at Winston Middle School knows her loss will be someone else’s gain.
She’s donating more than 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that makes hair prosthetics for financially disadvantaged children with diseases that lead to long-term hair loss.
Smith has had high hopes for her hair since she started reading stories about children with cancer in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books over the past couple years. The thought of children feeling out of place because of their hair loss saddened her.
“I wanted them just to feel normal like everyone else,” she said.
Smith’s mother wasn’t surprised by the request. She said her daughter, who keeps busy with activities like student council, basketball and honor society, has always been caring of others.
“She’s always been altruistic,” she said, adding that she’s proud of her daughter’s decision.
And with the Douglas County Fair starting up this week, the timing couldn’t be better. As a member of 4-H, Megan Smith has to think about long days with Lucy, her rust-colored Duroc swine named after Lucille Ball.
“The fair’s coming up and I’m showing my pig, and it’s going to be really hot,” she said.
She’ll be able to stay a bit cooler with the shoulder-length, layered style she chose from a photo of pop singer Ashlee Simpson in a hair fashion magazine.
“This specific cut was to my liking the most,” she said.
As Bailey carved layers through the teen’s hair, Smith noted how much lighter her head felt. Despite the more than 10-inch ponytail that rested on a table nearby, swirls of hair covered the floor beneath her chair.
“I feel this weight no more,” she said.
Bailey said the Locks of Love program is becoming increasingly popular among young people as word gets out about such opportunities to help others.
“We have a drawer full of hair right now to mail off,” she said.
Once blow-dried, Smith expressed her gratitude to Bailey as she checked out her new coiffure in the mirror.
“I feel like a different person,” she said. “I don’t recognize myself.”
But the new look is just an added bonus for Smith, who knows the experience will benefit others so much more.
“I feel great that I’m doing it for the kids,” she said.
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