Tag: donate hair for charity

Journo Jess raises money for & donates hair to The Little Princess Trust

“I understand – on a personal level – what a child has to go through when they loose their hair due to a medical condition.” – Journo Jess

My Story

I was told at the age of 12 that I have an Astrocytoma Benign Inoperable Brain Tumour. Where my tumour lies it blocks fluid from flowing; therefore, the doctors had to immediately put in a shunt to alleviate that fluid pressure build up. The doctors saw on my MRI that my retinas were under so much pressure, because of my brain tumour, they were on the verge of exploding – I was very close to going blind.

On the bright side though, once the doctors put the shunt in my head, it helped enormously to alleviate that fluid pressure build up. Furthermore, as long as my shunt works efficiently I can live a long full happy life; however, I have had many problems with my shunt(s) in the past – I have had 28 shunt revisions/ brain surgeries over my lifetime, because my shunt(s) have malfunctioned many times.

Every time I have had to endure a brain surgery, the doctors had to shave a good amount of hair off in order to perform the brain surgery. When I was a child, that was devastating to me. I was just like any other normal 12-year old girl, I loved my hair. 

When I began having brain surgeries, it took a lot for me to gain the courage to look at where the doctors had shaved my hair off. Moreover, when I did find the courage to look at the shaved part of my head for the first time, I waited until all of my family and friends had left my hospital room. I went to the mirror and took another mirror to look at the back side of my head to see what it looked like. It devastated me. Honestly, I just felt like the ugliest person in the world. Obviously, I knew deep down I wasn’t. But that was just how I felt. 

It has taken me 16 years to feel comfortable enough to share with the world and the public what my head looks like underneath my hair when the doctors have to shave my hair for surgery, but now I can proudly share with the world what it looks like, because I know even though I had to get my hair shaved for brain surgery, I know that I am still beautiful.

Above picture: Surgery from three years ago.
Above picture: Surgery from three years ago.

My decision to donate my hair & my transformation

The Little Princess Trust makes wigs out of hair donations and then they distribute the wigs – free of charge – to children or young people who are loosing or who have lost their hair due to medical treatments, such as Chemo Treatments.

A cause – such as The Little Princess Trust – is something that I hold very close to my heart, because I understand – on a personal level – what a child has to go through when they loose their hair due to a medical condition.

Since it has been two years when I had my last brain surgery and with consideration to the fact that my surgery hair has grown out past my shoulders, I decided that I wanted to cut my hair to even it out. But more than that, I also wanted to donate 10 in/25 cm of my hair to The Little Princess Trust! 

I wanted to give the gift of my hair a child or young person, which is something I understand. Having your hair cut for brain surgery can truly have a psychological affect on a child or young person – especially a female such as myself.

Even though I was fortunate that I only had to have my hair shaved underneath and it wasn’t all that visible to others, it was still something that very much bothered me. For example, even after I had brain surgery and the doctors had me walking around, I felt like the ugliest person, because I had that large incision on the back of my head plus a large portion of my head was shaved. 

Either way though, I am beyond grateful I survived so many brain surgeries throughout the years and I now have the chance to give back what I’ve been given.

So now is the time to give the gift of hair to a child that may need it to boost their self confidence, because it is truly so important if they are loosing their hair due to cancer treatments.


About the Little Princess Trust

While The Little Princess Trust does not charge the recipients who receives the wig, it does cost the foundation £550 to make the wig, which is why I choose to not only to donate my hair to The Little Princess Trust, but I wanted to raise enough money for at least one wig for a child to be made and to further the research efforts in childhood cancers. 

“The Little Princess Trust provides free, real-hair wigs for young cancer sufferers or for children and young people experiencing the devastating effects of hair loss. We also fund pioneering, life-saving research into childhood cancers.”

– The Little Princess Trust

Video featured below: The Little Princess Trust explains who they are, what they do, and what goes into making it possible for a child or a young person to receive a wig – free of charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_i3wLH6P0A

Little girl gains confidence after receiving her wig from The Little Princess Trust

As I was doing my research while putting this post together, I stumbled upon this YouTube video below of the Morning Show. It features little girl – Jodi – who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. 

Jodi honestly reminded me a lot of myself of when I went through my surgeries, because she wanted to appear as a strong, tough girl. She told the presenters ‘it was fine, it was fine.’

Jodi and her mum shared their story of her brain tumour battle that they have had to endure. Jodi also shared what it meant to her that The Little Princess Trust donated a beautiful princess wig to her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKbt1Rs3y0E

My donors to the Little Princess Trust

With the help of my wonderful supporters, I was able to raise £325 towards my goal of £550, which is how much it costs to produce one wig for a child or a young person who have lost their hair due to a medical condition. My donors are featured below.

CARI REED (FAMILY FRIEND) – DONATED $250
RAY RASHID (MY HAIR STYLIST) – DONATED £45
DIANA SHAY (MY AUNT) – DONATED $45
LIZ QUINLAN (MY MOTHER) – DONATED $50

If you felt inspired by my story and would like to donate to such a good cause, please follow this link to make a contribution. All proceeds go towards the Little Princess Trust Foundation in order to make the wigs for a child or young person who has lost their hair due to medical treatments and the funds also help researchers to find a cure for childhood cancers. 

The Little Princess Trust fundraiser completed

I cannot put into words just how much it meant to me that I was able to donate my hair to such an amazing cause who is providing free wigs to those who are loosing their hair due to medical conditions. 

Additionally, I appreciate each and every person who supported me in this fundraiser – financially and offered words of encouragement. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do something like this again, but until then let’s continue to support this great cause – the Little Princess Trust! 💪🏻




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