HYDERABAD: ‘I lost my grand mother to cancer this July. Her suffering left me heart broken” — Kavya “For two years I grew my hair. It not only made me look cool, but also became an integral part of my identity” — Raghunandan.
While for Kavya it was sentiment and for Raghunandan it was the desire to do something good. It prompted the duo to become a part of an extraordinary donation drive – hair donation. With an objective to support cancer patients, the Ladies Circle India, an NGO tied up with Hair for Hope, an organisation that collects hair and weaves them into wigs that are then distributed among economically backward patients who lose their hair to chemotherapy.
The initiative is pan India and before coming to Hyderabad where three people donated their hair, it travelled through Chennai and Mysore too.
When Kavya saw an ad in a newspaper, calling out to people to participate in the hair donation drive, she knew she was game for it. “I lost my grandmother to cancer this July and when I saw the ad I knew I had to do it for her. I can’t forget the pain and suffering she underwent. By donating my hair I knew I could bring a smile upon a suffering person’s face,” says the BDS student.
Kavya donated 15 inches of her tresses and says getting a haircut has never been more satisfying.
Raghunandan on the other hand loved to flaunt his ‘cool dude’ persona with his hippie hairstyle, sans the braiding and beading. “I hadn’t set foot in a salon for two years. My shoulder length hair had become part of my identity. But when I came to know about the drive, I knew it was time to be something more than cool – to be helpful,” he says.
A techie by profession and an aspiring author, Raghunandan got 12 inches of his beloved locks snipped off. He has no regrets however. “Baal toh fir bhad jayenge,” he says and adds that nothing can compare happiness that the wig will go to those fighting cancer.
CP Shweta Tibrewala, national publicity convenor of Ladies Circle India says the project is not really a donation but a way to show support to women fighting cancer.
“Our aim is to create awareness among people so that instead of throwing away their hair they can donate and help boost the self-esteem of cancer patients,” she explains.
How to donate?
Reports suggest that among every eight women, one has cancer. The disease not just slowly kills the body, it also gives a blow to the patients’ self esteem when they lose hair to chemotherapy.
“They can’t use synthetic hair due to their treatment and natural hair wigs are very expensive. This is where we comes into picture,” says Shweta.
Anyone can donate hair, the only criteria being — hair has to be virgin i.e. not chemically treated – minimum length requirement is 15 cm.
To donate hair or to get wigs contact shwetatibberwal@hotmail.com