KOCHI: Wigs come with a price tag and poor cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may not be able to afford these costly toupees. Wanting to make a difference in their lives, 34-year old Abi Mathew, a cosmetic salesman from Thrissur has embarked on a mission to donate wigs freely to these patients.
Not able to afford the wigs himself, Abi collects hair from beauty parlors, where he is a regular visitor to sell cosmetic products. With the hair collected over a span of two years, he has donated wigs worth Rs 25 lakhs.
How the idea sparked
He chanced upon the idea to distribute wigs from a friend working as a professor in Keralavarma College, Thrissur. The professor’s daughter who was 29 was undergoing treatment for cancer. The young women, who had started losing her hair began to be ashamed of her look. So, wherever she travelled, the professor’s daughter used to wear a wig. Abi, who was close to the family, was struck by the wig, which was very essential yet unaffordable to financially backward patients. Being a cosmetics salesman, he was aware of the amount of hair being wasted at beauty parlours. Within no time, he began discussions with beauty parlor owners. Soon, over 30 beauty parlors were willing to cooperate with Abi’s efforts.
How the wig is made
Abi reached an agreement with a wig production unit in Chennai. As per the contract, Abi would provide hair and the unit would give him a wig in return. The catch? Instead of money, he would supply more hair to the unit as production cost. Abi says, “This was helpful to the production unit too because they needed a lot of hair to make wigs for cinema shooting.
However, within time, the unit lost interest and supply of wigs came down. Soon, Abi was confronted with another curious problem. The hair he was receiving from the beauty parlours were too short. The quality was also not good. “Collecting suitable hair to make wigs is a challenge,” he said.