7 y0 Girl grows hair to help others
Published: October 1, 2005
There wasn’t a moment of hesitation for 7-year-old St. Simons Island resident Alicia Mikowski.
She was going to do it no matter what anyone said – she was going to cut her hair.
Alicia decided to grow out her hair, and then cut if off, so she could donate it to Locks of Love, a charitable organization that takes donated human hair to make wigs for children who have lost their own hair through treatment for cancer and other illnesses.
“I started thinking about it last summer because I saw it on TV,” said Alicia, who is now 8.
“It took me a year to grow it out. I’m a kid, and I thought, ‘What if that happened to me … how would I feel?’”
Her hair, which was just past her chin, took a year to grow to the 10 inches Locks of Love requires for making hair pieces.
Alicia grew her hair an extra inch, just to be safe.
According to her mother, Terri Mikowski, she would only take her to get a trim to keep it healthy.
On July 2, Alicia got the big haircut and her mother braided it and sent it to Locks of Love.
“It was hot,” Alicia says of her life with long hair. “I always wore it in a braid.”
Mikowski said she always had to braid the longer hair for Alicia, but now it’s too short to braid.
“I had a harder time letting her hair go than she did,” Mikowski said with a laugh.
“(Yet) I loved the idea … I was so proud of her for making her own decision (to cut her hair for the organization.)”
Alicia and her mother explained that her hair will be combined with other ponytails – at least six – to make a prosthetic that molds to the head of a child who needs the wig.
Locks of Love provides hairpieces to children from age 6 to 18 who are suffering from long-term or permanent hair loss due to medical conditions.
Children younger than 6 and those suffering from short-term hair loss receive a synthetic wig.
The cost of a hairpiece can be up to $3,000, but Locks of Love does provide financial assistance to those who cannot afford them.
Alicia said her friends were shocked with her appearance when she started school with short hair at Oglethorpe Point Elementary School in August.
“They liked it,” Alicia said.
As she tells her story, Alicia hugs her little pink bear, Curly, explaining how her mother bought it from Locks of Love and gave it to her after the haircut. Curly is Locks of Love’s official charity bear.
“I’m thinking about doing it again,” Alicia said. “I want to help the kids.”
As she said this, Alicia’s younger sister, Rachel, shook her head, her long hair swaying back and forth.
She isn’t planning to cut her hair – not yet anyway.
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