healthmedicinet

• Thousands of children a month donate 7 inches of hair to cancer sufferers
• The trend started in the U.S. and became a YouTube sensation 
• Hair is plaited – to make it easier to post – then cut off, used to make a wig
• One British charity receives more than 1,500 donations a month  

By
Rebecca Ley

Published:
17:06 EST, 12 August 2014

|
Updated:
00:35 EST, 13 August 2014

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At just seven years old, little Bethan Evans has already endured more than most adults. 

Diagnosed two years ago with a rare bone cancer, sweet-natured Bethan has had to deal not only with gruelling bouts of chemotherapy and radiotherapy — but also how her appearance was transformed by the illness and treatment for it.

Namely, the loss of her lovely fair hair, which not only altered how she looked but also meant she was forever stared at in public.

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Confident again: Chemotherapy robbed Bethan Evans of her hair but then the seven-year-old was given a wig

‘Whenever we went out, people would stare shamelessly at Bethan,’ says her mother, Lynne, 38, a teacher. ‘And even when they smiled at the same time, it was still hard for her to take.

‘She was just a tiny child having to adjust to both feeling dreadful and suddenly becoming an object of curiosity. I wanted her to lead a normal life, but her hair loss made that difficult.’

But then came a gift that could make Bethan blend in again: a small, real-hair wig. Bethan became, she says with a wide smile, ‘like my old self again — I felt like me’.

Yet what is particularly remarkable about Bethan’s new hair is that it came from another child, who had selflessly sacrificed her own.

For, incredibly, girls all over Britain are volunteering in increasing numbers to have their beloved locks cut off in order to make human-hair wigs for less fortunate children.

‘It’s a wonderful idea — a wonderful gift,’ says Lynne, who lives with her engineer husband Arwel, 39, and elder daughter Amy, ten, in Llangadfan, Mid Wales.

‘It wasn’t long after Bethan’s first bout of chemotherapy that her hair fell out; she woke up one morning and it was all over her pillow, so I said: “Either we let this itch or we cut it short.”

‘I chopped it into a pixie cut and afterwards, Bethan stood by the mirror, attached to her drip, and said: “Mum, you’ve done an awful job with that.” It was such a sad sight.’

Shortly afterwards, Bethan had an appointment for a wig with Peter Murtha of Optima Hair Specialists in Birmingham, a hair-loss specialist who works with Birmingham Children’s Hospital and charities such as the Little Princess Trust and Hayley Higginson Trust.

This British charity receives more than 1,500 hair donations every month, mostly from children, and provides real-hair wigs to children suffering from hair loss. Many recipients have been treated for cancer, while some suffer from alopecia. Each donation has to be at least seven-and-a-half inches long.

Short cut: Tallulah, three, with her tumbling locks (left) and later with her new bob after donating the rest

Determined: Tallulah made her mother replay the video showing others doing it – then said she wanted to too

Ta-dah! Showing off her plait of hair, which was then posted to Little Princesses and made into a wig

‘In the past year there has been a significant increase,’ says Monica Glass, spokesperson for the charity. 

‘The donated hair, if acceptable to the wig manufacturer, is made into wigs for the charity to use. It takes around five or six donations to make just one real-hair wig. The difference they make to a poorly child is immense. It makes them feel like their old self again.’

When seven-year-old Jasmine Burchell decided to have her striking long, red hair cut off, she hoped to help just such an ill child.

Yet while Jasmine approached the cut with a matter-of-fact attitude, her mother, Vanessa, was rather emotional.

‘I loved Jasmine’s hair and it was right down her back and so beautiful,’ says Vanessa, 45, stifling a sob.

‘She loved to have it plaited and curled, and I enjoyed doing that for her,’ says Vanessa, a bank clerk from Solihull in the West Midlands.

‘But she saw another little girl getting a charity hair cut at a fun day, and when she found out it was to donate her hair to children who had lost theirs through serious illness, Jasmine decided then and there to donate her own.

‘She said she wanted a little girl who had once had orange hair like hers to be able to have a pretty wig made. I was so inspired by her feelings, and the way I felt about Jasmine’s hair only makes me more aware how much another little girl could be missing hers.’

The craze for young children to donate their hair started in the U.S., where it has been popular for the past decade. Video website YouTube has tens of thousands of videos on hair donation, one featuring a three-year-old called Emily James having her long, dark hair cut off. Slickly produced and set to music, it has been viewed almost four million times.

Gift: Ruby Harrington, seven, also agreed to the chop

Indeed, it was watching Emily’s video that provided inspiration to little Tallulah O’Connor, who is also just three, and her mother Monica White, 33, a freelance graphic designer.

‘As soon as the clip finished, Tallulah asked to watch it again,’ says Monica. ‘Tallulah has lovely dark hair and we were thinking of cutting it anyway when a friend said she should give it away. I started looking online and realised what a big thing it is.

‘When I found the Little Princess Trust website, I applied for a pack and told Tallulah it was for poorly children. I didn’t go into explaining about cancer — she is too young. But she totally understood that there are children out there she could help.

On the day of the cut itself, the little girl was far more sanguine about the chop than her parents. ‘By then, her hair was so long it was past her bottom, and we were worried she might freak out when it was gone,’ says Monica.

‘I could barely watch, it was such a massive thing to do. But Tallulah didn’t have any last-minute nerves, she looked completely relaxed. I felt emotional myself — and my partner was particularly upset.

‘I don’t know what it is about dads and their daughters’ hair, but he was a bit shaken when I initially talked about cutting it and said a very vehement “no”.

‘But once it sank in and he learnt more about the charity, he was supportive. Her hair will grow back, after all, and as parents we can’t even imagine the heartbreak of your child being so poorly.

‘The whole experience has brought home to me how lucky I am to have a healthy child.’

Before being cut, the hair is plaited to make it easy to post to the charity and keep it untangled. Afterwards, Tallulah’s remaining hair was tidied into a neat bob. Donors can also raise sponsorship money, and Tallulah’s friends and family donated £2,135 to the charity.

‘Once you’ve cut the hair, you just put the plait in a freezer bag and post it off,’ says Monica. 

‘You don’t know who the hair is going to, though it would be lovely to know. A lady I follow on Facebook has a daughter who suffered from cancer and recently received a wig from Little Princesses, so at least I’ve seen the difference that it has made — the girl is so thrilled. That really brought home how much difference one haircut can make.’ 

Once with the charity, the hair is used by specialist wig-makers who design and create them for patients such as Bethan.

Lynne recalls: ‘We went for an initial appointment where Bethan’s head was measured and we showed them photographs of her hair as it was before so it could be matched.

‘Then, about six weeks later, we collected the wig. It looked brilliant — so full and shiny — and then it was cut and styled just as Bethan wanted it.

‘As soon as she got the wig, her confidence soared. Before, on the odd day she’d made it to school, I’d given her scarves to wear around her head, but this was so much better — suddenly people didn’t look at her any more and she could feel free when she was in public.

‘When she had her hair, no one could notice that anything was wrong and suddenly it felt like we’d been given back part of a normal childhood. It was wonderful.’

Lynne is extremely grateful to the child who donated the hair that helped Bethan

‘It is an incredible thing to do,’ she says. ‘I know how wonderful it was for Bethan to get her life back. For little girls selflessly to donate their hair means so much.’ 

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