A Sheffield student cut off 19 inches of her hair, inspired by her two time cancer survivor grandmother.
Katie Farmer, 18, donated her hair to The Little Princess Trust – a charity that provides real hair wigs to children and young people, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment.
In addition to her hair donation, Katie started a fundraiser to have it made and styled into a wig, which met its £550 goal in under 7 hours.
She said: “My nan has had cancer twice throughout my life, I’ve seen her lose her hair and my mom had to shave her head both times.
“I remember she bought a wig for one of them and it brought a lot of her confidence back. I saw that it made her feel better about it and wanted to give that feeling to someone else.”
Katie learned about The Little Princess Trust through celebrity Harry Styles, who also donated part of his hair to the charity in 2016. As someone who has had long hair all her life, Katie claims the donation felt therapeutic to her as well.
She said: “When I was sat in the chair with my hair still there I was really nervous but as soon as it was off I knew it was for a good cause.
“I felt fresh, I just felt like I had a fresh start and I know that hair is going to someone else and they’re also going to get a fresh start and it’s a really nice feeling.”
Losing hair due to cancer treatment can severely impact people of all ages’ mental health as for many hair is part of their identity. Therefore, Katie encourages other young people to follow in her footsteps. You can learn more about how to do so on The Little Princess Trust’s website:
