Owen Watson of Smiths Falls had a weight taken off his shoulders recently, but it really was no weight at all – it was 13 inches of hair he has donated to make wigs for cancer patients.
The local boy had four pony tails of hair removed on Sunday, March 22 by his long-time hairstylist, Terri Merpaw. The hair is being donated to the Locks of Love organization who makes wigs for children.
“It was really weird because I’ve been used to it for so long. It felt nice” to get off, Watson said.
This past weekend’s donation marks the end of a year-and-a-half of growing for the Grade 6 boy. Watson said his mother, who is three years cancer free, and his older brother, Nathanial who donated 18 inches of hair before Christmas, inspired him.
“Somebody needed it more than me,” Watson said of his hair.
According to the Locks of Love website, 80 per cent of donations come from children who want to help other children with cancer.
The elementary school boy has never grown his hair in the past and prefers to keep his hair styled close to the scalp, which makes this recent donation all the more impressive. Toward the end, Owen’s hair stretched past his shoulders and was full of body. This resulted in one instance where a stranger on the street mistook him for a girl, but was immediately impressed with the young man once he explained why he had such long hair.
“There was a lot of maintenance,” said mom, Michelle Watson.
Her son’s hair began to grow very curly after growing it out for a while. His hair was so thick and curly he produced four pony tails of hair for donation when often just one is available.
“Between the two of them they might have enough for one wig,” Mrs. Watson said of her two sons.
She said an average of six-10 ponytails are needed to make one child’s wig. Each wig takes about four months to complete and costs the non-profit organization between $3,500 to $6,000. All wigs are given free of charge to recipients. The discussion around wigs at the Watson house began during Mrs. Watson’s battle with cancer when her hair began to fall out.
“They were fairly young when that happened,” Mrs. Watson recalls.
She choose not to wear a wig through her journey and spoke to her sons about her choice, which ultimately led to the types of wigs that are available and that donations are accepted.
Donations of at least 10-inches from tip to tip are acceptable for donation so long as the hair is not bleached or in dreadlocks. All donations must be in a ponytail or braided and mailed to Locks of Love, 234 Southern Blvd, West Palm Beach, Fl., 33405-2701. More information can be found at www.locksoflove.org.
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