A young American did not go to the barber for five years in order to donate his hair to people with cancer.
“To well-born souls, value does not wait for the number of years” writes Corneille in Le Cid, and Colin Southwood has just demonstrated that wisdom and courage can be acquired at an early age. This young American decided at the age of 4 to grow his hair and then donate it to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, which makes wigs for people with cancer. Denise Southwood, his mother, believes he was inspired by advertisements for sick children as well as some of his relatives with cancer: his grandmother, two great-grandparents and a teacher at school .
During these five years, Colin’s long hair was not just a piece of cake, as Denise Southwood confides in Huffington Post (link in English): he was often taken for a little girl … In May 2013, he finally decided to cut his hair: he gave about 30 centimeters to the program. This gift was accompanied by a letter in which the young boy explained his gesture: “Hello, my name is Colin and I am 10 years old. I let my hair grow for 5 years. […] I really can’t imagine what it feels like to lose your hair and have cancer. So I just cut off 12 inches from my hair so you can make some nice wigs for those who need them. I hope that they will feel better, happier, and that they will not have to suffer from cancer ”.
Hair loss is one of the consequences of chemotherapy. According to the National Cancer Institute : “When we ask patients to rank in order of importance dozens of negative effects linked to cancer or its treatments, it is often alopecia [la chute des cheveux, ndlr] which comes first ”. It is temporary, with hair and body hair growing back when treatment is stopped, at a rate of about one centimeter per month.
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