8 y.o.’s inspired by Oprah to donate hair
Published: May 6, 2008
The Designer’s Edge hairdresser measured 10 inches of Kennedy Phillips’s long red hair Tuesday.
More than a year ago, Phillips, 8, and her best friend, Chloe Asbresch, decided to donate their hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.
“Is this going to be OK?” said Bobbie Jean Hasbrouck, placing the black hair comb against Phillips’s back.
Asbresch, 9, watched nervously beside her mother.
“I’m a little scared,” said Asbresch, running her hands through her dark brown hair.
The prostheses Locks of Love provides help restore children’s self-esteem and confidence, which enables them to “face the world and their peers.”
Most children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. Alopecia is an auto-immune disorder that causes the hair follicles to shut down and affects 4.7 million people in the United States alone.
Cancer constitutes the second highest percentage of Locks of Love recipients.
Every year about 2,200 children under age 20 are diagnosed with brain tumors. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment to the brain stem can cause long-term or permanent hair loss.
“I watched a show on Oprah about it with my mom,” Phillips said. “I called Chloe and asked if she wanted to do it together.”
About 10 inches of hair measured from tip to tip is the minimum length needed for a Locks of Love hairpiece. Hair must be in a ponytail or braid before it is cut.
Phillips took a deep breath before Hasbrouck began snipping above the rubberband. Her face immediately turned a shade of pink when her hair gathered on her shoulders.
“It’s for a good cause,” said Asbresch, who giggled when the hairdresser handed a ponytail of red hair to Phillips.
“Oh, I’ll do it again,” she said. “But I’ll have to wait a while until it gets long — if I get it cut too soon I’ll be bald.”
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