A COOLANGATTA model, Amy Jarvis, will cut off her luxurious long locks of hair on Monday to help one young girl who has lost her hair due to Alopecia.
Amy Jarvis will donate her hair so it can be used to create a wig for a child suffering from alopecia, an auto-immune condition that causes people to lose their hair – sometimes in small patches of hair loss on the scalp, often it results in complete baldness on the scalp and even over the whole body. There is no known cause or cure for the condition, unlike hair loss caused by cancer treatment (chemotherapy), it is unknown if and when the hair will grow back. It is not uncommon for the hair to fall out and regrow several times over a person’s life, sometimes it may never grow back.
Miss Jarvis hopes others will sponsor her efforts to raise funds for other children needing wigs. For kids with alopecia, the wigs make it possible to have a normal childhood. When using a custom made wig it allows them to go swimming and play sport without the wig falling off.
“I’ve always had long hair and just couldn’t imagine going through school with my hair falling out or no hair at all,” Miss Jarvis said. “When I heard that I could donate my own hair to be used to make wigs for these children, I decided I would get the chop.” “If my hair can change a child’s life by increasing self-esteem, then consider it done.”
Up to 19 ponytails are required to make just one wig, and each one costs around $3000. Over 50 hours of work goes into the creation of a wig by a highly skilled artisan. Each wig can last up to 3 or 4 years. All money raised will be donated to Variety, a children’s charity that funds human hair suction wigs for children.
Variety’s mission is to enrich, improve and transform the lives of seriously ill, disadvantaged and special-needs children.
To donate, visit www.gofundraise.com.au/page/AmyJarvis.
