A 12-year-old girl watched in the mirror as the hairdresser cut away at her long brown locks, which took her more than a year-and-a-half to grow.
No tears were shed. Just a triumphant smile spread across her face.
This marked the fourth time Vincent J. Maloney Catholic Junior High School student Rachel Kaine has donated her chopped tresses to create wigs for people living with cancer.
“It was entirely her decision, I had nothing to do with it,” said mother Beverly Kaine of her daughter Rachel’s first hair donation at the age of seven.
“I’m so immensely proud of her. At the age of seven, I couldn’t fathom that she would want to do something like this.”
Rachel’s inspiration came after a close family friend, Eileen, battled with the disease that is estimated to strike two out of five Canadians during their lifetimes.
“Our neighbour across the street had cancer. That was the first I had ever heard of cancer and what it was,” said Rachel. “I decided to grow out my hair because one of my friends did it, so I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Beverly explained Rachel was determined to have her hair grown out, cut and shown to Eileen before she succumbed to the disease at the age of 31.
“(Rachel) was just unstoppable, so we provided as much support as possible. Lots of hair product to keep the tangles out and she wouldn’t be talked down.”
For the past five years Rachel has had to keep her hair free of dye, bleach and other chemicals in order for it to be eligible for donation through Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program. The campaign provides free real-hair wigs to cancer patients through the Canadian Cancer Society “to help women regain some of their dignity, confidence and sense of self.”
Since the program’s inception in 2006, wigs have been crafted by HairUWear and distributed to individuals across the country through wig banks.
To date, more than 400,000 ponytails have been donated to the program. Since it takes between eight and 15 donated ponytails (eight inches or longer) to create one wig, interested donors are encouraged to host “hair-cutting parties” to spread awareness and collect as many donations as possible.
Although Rachel is now sporting a chic bob, just in time for spring, the preteen has no plans to stop her annual hair donations.
“I just keep at it,” she said.
Donation hair requirements:
• The ponytail you cut must be at least eight inches or 20.5 centimetres long, from just above the elastic band to ends.<br />• Hair must be unprocessed: it cannot have been bleached, permanently coloured, relaxed, permed, highlighted or otherwise chemically treated.<br />• Hair can be coloured with vegetable dyes, rinses and semi-permanent dyes and still be eligible.<br />• Wavy/curly hair texture is acceptable <br />• You may straighten the hair to measure<br />• Hair cannot have more than five per cent grey
