Shaving My Head for Children with Cancer Was So Rewarding

“Shaving my head was one of the best experiences of my life,” says SAPeople’s Cassie Jo. As the world commemorated World Cancer Day on Friday (4 Feb), SAPeople asked Cassie to share some of her tips for anyone who would like to donate their hair to those who’ve lost theirs. Her first tip is reassurance that it really will grow back! Below is Cassie before and after.

“The only thing is that despite praying for new straight hair, my hair grew back exactly the same!” she laughs.

Cassie’s hair was so long that the Little Princess Trust was able to use her hair to make more than three wigs! (The Trust provides free real-hair wigs to children and youngsters up to 24 who have cancer. In South Africa, CANSA provides a similar service and they are open for hair donations again.)

The inspiration

Cassie was inspired to donate her hair after witnessing a close family friend lose his whilst undergoing chemotherapy. She believes it’s really important to be prepared before you cut off all your hair.

“Fortunately I’d known for a while that I wanted to donate my hair, so I was mentally prepared and it wasn’t such a huge shock when I actually did it. Although it took one of my closest friends a moment to adjust to the new look, so perhaps I should’ve prepared her more as well!

“I was 17 when I did it, but I had already made the decision over a year beforehand when our friend John lost his hair, and I wanted to do it while he was still alive, but sadly he died a couple of months later… so instead I chose to shave my hair off on the first anniversary of his passing.

“That made it easy to not back out, because it was a really meaningful day.”

One of her parents’ friends begged her not to shave her head and offered to double the £3,000 she had raised for the cancer charity, for Cas to NOT shave off her beautiful hair!

But Cassie felt that donating her hair to someone else who needed it more was important.

“In a way I felt bad having so much hair when other kids had lost all of theirs. Now, I somehow feel like I’ve earned my hair,” she says.

The toughest thing on the day was that nerves made Cassie’s scalp feel itchy! “I panicked that I was going to be publicly humiliated with nits! There was a crowd of family and school friends at the hair salon… so once the hairdresser had washed, braided, cut (with everyone’s help) and shaved my hair without any imaginary nits coming to life I was at a level of gratitude you cannot imagine!”

“On the morning of shaving my head, my sister Tara immortalised my hair in sunrise photos, thinking that I would never have such long hair again,” says Cas.

“But within two years, I felt like I had my old ‘mane’ of hair back, and not long afterwards my hair was the same length again!” she says.

Things to look forward to when you donate your hair

Apart from the obvious advantage of knowing you’ve hopefully helped lighten someone else’s journey just a little, these are some of the other advantages ‘heading’ your way, says Cas:

• Showering with a shaved head (one of the most amazing feelings in the world)
• Not having to brush your hair in the morning ie. being able to sleep in longer! (My hair was – and is again – so long and wavy it takes ages to get the knots out!)
• Lots of head massages. Your head becomes public property.
  
• New hair styles (some look a little better than others, at one point it was going forwards and backwards)
• Better quality hair.
• Not having to go to the hairdresser for a while, and saving money!

Donating Your Hair If you Live in South Africa:

CANSA Requirements for Human Hair Donations:

• Ponytail donation that is 25 cm or longer. Shorter hair may be used as a filler.
• Hair should be clean and dry.
• All hair whether dyed or treated is acceptable.
• When cutting the hair, please bind both ends with an elastic band and place in a zip-lock bag (this preserves it in the best condition while being transported to the wig manufacturer).
• Send your hair donation in a plastic bag with your name and contact details on it.

Visit CANSA for more info on Donating your hair in South Africa. 

Visit the Little Princess Trust (they accept hair from around the world)