Teen donates hair to Locks of Love
Published: August 11, 2006
She didn’t want to, but she went through with it.
There was a false start in mid-July, but Wednesday Cynthia Partrick sat tall in the chair, squeezed her eyes shut and said “I’m going to just do it. Do it!”
Taking her cue, Pamela Ross of Visible Changes chopped away 13 inches of Partrick’s hair.
Partrick had many reservations about the cut, such as not looking like a boy, but had made the decision to donate her hair to Locks of Love months ago. Still, that meant having to follow some rules.
Her hair had to be recently washed, dried, and pulled back into a braid. Ross would have to cut the gathered hair just above the rubber band, which would cause the hair to be shorter in the back and longer in the front, she said.
Partrick said it’s for a worthy cause. The donated hair goes to make hair pieces and wigs for those without hair because of disease, she said. “It’s scary, but it’s going to be worth it to someone else. At least you know your hair is going to grow out.”
Ross told Partrick, who was very concerned about the length, that she would then have to trim up the sides. A minimum of 10 inches had to come off.
“I’m terrified right now. Oh my God, I’m going to be bald,” she said.
For the first time in her 16 years, Partrick had managed to grow her hair to this length. “I don’t know how long it took, but it was at my shoulders before. Once it got past a certain point it just grew and grew,” said Partrick.
Her family lives in Washington, but Partrick attends St. Mary’s, a boarding school in Raleigh, and is home for the summer. A tennis player at school, Partrick said the season is just about to start. “I want to be able to put it in a ponytail because I play sports. But it will be nice to have it off,” she said.
Ross has co-owned the Visible Changes salon with Erin Smith for six and a half years, and has been cutting hair for 20 years, but has never helped someone donate their hair to this program. Once the braid was cut, Partrick had to place it in a plastic bag and mail it to the foundation.
After the cut, Partrick wasn’t too thrilled with her look. “It’s really short,” she said. Despite the trauma, she said she would donate her hair again.
“If I see someone with longer hair, I’ll tell them ‘getting your hair cut can help someone else’,” she said.
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