Girly boy? Not quite
Published: August 21, 2005
Nickolas Chambers, 8, of Duluth, lost a part of himself Friday that took two years to get.
More than 10 inches of blond hair was cut from his head at the West Duluth Great Clips. The hair will be donated to Locks of Love, a Florida-based nonprofit organization that uses donations of real hair to make wigs for children who have medical hair loss.
Nickolas said he decided to grow his hair when two girls had theirs cut at his school two years ago for Locks of Love. Since then, he has endured teasing from both kids and adults.
But he knew why he was doing it - to help someone else.
“I hope it gets used for a wig,” Nickolas said. “For people who lost their hair.”
Hairstylist Kelly Olson, who has cut hair for Locks of Love before, said she usually sees a couple of people each week who cut their hair for the nonprofit. But most of the donors are girls, she said.
A measure of Nickolas’ hair Friday revealed it had reached the Locks of Love minimum of a 10-inch ponytail. It was time for a trip to the hair salon, the Chambers family decided. Nickolas was accompanied by his mother, older brother, his mother’s boyfriend and a family friend.
When Nickolas’ hair started getting long, both kids and adults made fun of him, family members said, calling him a girl, “mullet boy” or other names.
“I don’t want anybody calling him a girly boy anymore,” said his 9-year-old brother, Nathaniel Chambers.
His mother, LeAnne Chambers, 29, said Nickolas came home from school crying a couple times because kids were teasing him.
“We’ve been very tempted to just cut it,” she said.
As his hair was being cut, Nickolas sat calmly while his brother ran around the chair anxiously watching. LeAnne stared, her eyes wide and her hand over her mouth.
“He looks like a little man again,” she said.
She said she used to spend a half-hour in the morning and a half-hour at night untangling Nickolas’ hair and making it look presentable.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with all the hair supplies,” LeAnne Chambers said.
Nickolas looked in the mirror, smiling. “I look like my old self,” he said.
Nickolas said he had forgotten what it was like to get a haircut. Though he likes the lighter, cooler length, he said he wants to grow it out again.
Locks of Love donors must be able to put their hair in a pony tail measuring 10 inches or more before cutting. Donated hair does not need to be professionally cut.
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