TAMPA, Fla. — Emily is just 10 years old, and her father, Jeremy, noticed she had small patches of hair loss on the back of her head.
“Well, maybe it's something just, you know, kind of coming and going. But it, you know, continued and progressively came out more and more,” explained Jeremy.
More and more until Emily lost it all.
“It got to a point where, as she grew up, she became more aware of it and the difference between her and her friends. And about a little over a year ago, she started verbalizing that more and letting this know that, hey, you know, these pictures, I have hair, and I don't now,” said Jeremy.
ABC Action News anchor Paul LaGrone asked, “How does a child process it, deal with it? What must that be like? What was that like for you as a dad? And what was that like for her?"
“As a dad, you know, you want the best for your kids. But at the same time, there's only so much you can do, so you kind of have to embrace it,” said Jeremy.
That’s when Emily’s pediatrician told Jeremy about The Longhairs and the event called The Great Cut.
Men and Women with longer hair gather together for a giant hair-cutting party. At the end, all the hair is donated to children all over America who suffer from sudden medical hair loss.
Children With Hair Loss has provided nearly 10,000 human hair replacements to children experiencing hair loss from cancer, autoimmune conditions, burn injuries, and more.
For Emily, the hair has been a game changer.
Jeremy asked his daughter, “What do you think about your wig?”
“It is very good and very soft,” said Emily.
“When the hair came in, and he started talking about, you know, her long hair and wanting to style it and everything like that,” explained Jeremy.
“When she does start pointing out the differences in old pictures hanging on the fridge or something. We always come back around to 'Hey, yeah, dad doesn’t have much left either. We're in it together, right,'” explained Jeremy.
LaGrone asked, “What would you like people to know that are seeing this for the first time?”
Jeremy replied, “There's other people out there, like you. And there's other organizations out there that can help to address getting a wig or something like that, to where if you don't feel like you're being accepted, or it might be a hit to, who you are as a person, you know, there's people out there that will help.”
The Great Cut will attempt to break the Guinness World Record title for the most hair donated to charity in 24 hours.
Anyone, anywhere in the world, can participate in the event now through March 16. You can learn more about how you get involved by clicking here.
