Girl gives hair to Locks of Love

For four years, one 11-year-old grew her hair, letting it fall below her elbows before cutting it Tuesday.

Leah Davis, a sixth-grader at Jamestown Middle School, donated 11 1/2 inches of her ash blonde tresses to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that creates hair pieces for financially disadvantaged children.

“I would want someone to have my hair because it would make them feel happy,” she said.

Leah remembers the reaction of her great aunt, Pat Weixel, when she purchased a new wig after losing her hair during chemotherapy treatments. Weixel battled lung cancer and died in 2004, said Lisa Davis, Leah’s mother.

At 7 years old, Leah saw how happy the wig made her aunt, so Leah decided to grow her hair long enough to donate it to Locks of Love.

“I was very proud of her to make that decision,” Lisa said.

Donating her hair, Leah said, would make her aunt proud.

“It really touched me a lot,” Lisa said.

Like Leah, many people donate to Locks of Love, said Sue Trecker, owner and stylist at En Styl Salon. Trecker cut Leah’s hair Tuesday and said she cuts hair for Locks of Love donations about twice a month. Leah said some of her classmates have donated too.

Hair has to measure at least 10 inches, Locks of Love said, and cannot have been bleached. Permed and colored hair is OK, according to its Web site.

The donation doesn’t heal an illness but it helps a person feel better, according to Locks of Love.

“It brings them back to … like they’re normal, like everyone else,” Trecker said.

And that’s important to the Locks of Love organization, according to its Web site. The hair helps children rebuild self-esteem.

“The children who receive these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a loss of self,” it said.

Leah said her shorter length is “kinda weird,” but she’s getting used to it.

“I felt happy because I did like having long hair but I didn’t want to brush it,” she said.

For more information on Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org.

Sun reporter Katie Ryan can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by e-mail at kryan@jamestownsun.com

Tags: locks of love, news, hair, davis