She was in the Chicago Tribune today!
**Willowbrook athlete a cut above
Nationwide hair donations help youths who suffer from disease that causes early baldness.**
By Marlen Garcia
Tribune staff reporter
April 25, 2002, 8:30 PM CDT
Debbie B***** waited three years for her curly, chocolate-colored hair to grow long, just inches above her waist.
Earlier this month her hairstylist put it in a ponytail and cut straight across, removing the whole ponytail. The Willowbrook sophomore, who is a shot put and discus thrower for the track team, became a bit emotional as 10 inches of her hair were snipped off within seconds.
She worried about how she would look. How would her appearance change? Would people laugh? They are typical concerns for any teenage boy or girl who knows that “everything with looks affects your self-esteem,” B** said. “Hair is like a body part.”
Then she remembered her purpose for the haircut. She was sending the ponytail to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization in Florida that provides hairpieces to needy children across the country who suffer from long-term hair loss.
Most of the children have alopecia areata, a condition that causes partial or complete loss of hair and has no cure.
A friend told B***\** about the organization when they were in middle school, and B***\** decided she would donate her hair. When an adult family friend fought breast cancer a year ago and struggled with her hair loss during chemotherapy, B**** became determined to go through with her plan.
When she began to waver, the doubt was brief. She went to the Locks of Love Web site at www.locksoflove.org and looked at pictures of children, shown bald and then with beautiful wigs. She quickly regained her resolve.
“When kids lose their hair they don’t feel like they look good,” B**** said. “It’s important for them to feel good. If they look good, they’ll feel better.”
As news of B**\**’s donation spread through her school, the positive response by her classmates and teammates surprised B****.
“That’s such a role-model thing to do,” teammate Taylor Higgins said. “I said, ‘Debbie you’re my hero.’”
B***will continue checking the photos on the Locks of Love Web site, looking for someone who might be wearing a wig made with her hair.
“It would be cool if I saw mine,” she said. “If I don’t, it’s OK. The important thing is the kids look so happy when they get their wigs.”
Copyright © 2002, The Chicago Tribune