As many as 23 girls and women donated at least 12 inches of their hair for cancer patients at a donation programme here on Saturday.
The Fly High Charitable Trust organised the programme in association with Mercy Beauty Academy and Saloon and St. Agnes PU College here. While the youngest donor was an 8-year-old, the eldest was 59 years old.
Speaking on the occasion, Mercy Veena D’Souza, beauty therapist and trainer from Mercy Beauty Academy, said she started the hair donation initiative with the Round Table India, Mangaluru, about four years ago.
People appreciated this initiative of putting smiles back on the face of cancer patients.
Later, she joined hands with the Fly High Charitable Trust to continue the initiative. When some people asked what exactly the donated hair was being used for, she insisted the trust to provide the wigs to needy poor patients in Dakshina Kannada district itself.
About 22-25 donations of a minimum of 12 inches length were required to prepare a wig that costs up to ₹50,000. With growing awareness about hair donation and its purpose, more donors are coming forward. While affluent cancer patients who have lost hair following chemotherapy could afford a wig, the poor could not and this is where the donated hair was put to use, she said.
Recently during Independence Day, the trust donated wigs to four poor patients in Mangaluru. Ms. D’Souza said the beneficiaries were overwhelmed with the gesture, as being without hair, particularly for women, was a difficult thing.