Elma’s Long Locks
When Elma came into the world, there really wasn’t much hair on her head. As her mother, I had a big dream of long locks to braid, but it still took a few years before we got to see those curls. Around the age of 3–4, when her hair truly began to grow, it became incredibly long and beautiful, and we simply couldn’t bear to cut it. But when Elma turned 5 in 2018, it had grown so long that it was finally time to bring out the scissors. The kindergarten sandpit didn’t exactly make it easy to wash those locks every day (read: for her mom 😉). So I started looking into hair donations.
Through Instagram, I came across Toftild Hair Donation, which I contacted right away! Elma was ready to cut her long hair, and beforehand we had talked a lot about how she could give her long hair to someone who needed it more. Maybe other children who had lost their hair would benefit from hers. It was her grandfather, a former hairdresser, who took the scissors, and we cut off a full 30 cm (approximately 12 inches). We sent the hair off, and Elma received a diploma for her hair donation, which she proudly brought to kindergarten to show. She was incredibly proud—and so were we.
Lucky as she is, Elma’s hair grew long once again. When she turned 7 in 2020, she often talked about how she had previously cut and donated her hair. For the second time, we asked her grandfather to cut her locks, and once again we sent the hair to Toftild. The third time was a little different, as Elma was older and had a greater understanding of what it meant. Elma is now 9 years old, and since the summer she had talked a lot about being tired of her long hair—it had become so long and thick that it required quite a few products to detangle after washing. At one point she said, “But Mom, it’s such a waste of hair if I just cut it off and it gets thrown away—I want to donate my hair again.” This time, Elma really wanted to visit a “real hairdresser,” since Grandpa had done the job at home the previous two times.
As she wished, we found a local hairdresser who measured her hair, and sure enough—it was long enough for yet another donation. It meant so much to Elma that it was possible once again. I must admit I felt incredibly proud, because this time she made the decision to donate on her own. AND it struck me that, as her mom, I may have influenced her choice in earlier years 😉 We are so grateful to have the opportunity to donate. It means a lot to us, as cancer has touched our lives closely. Elma is generally a sensitive and caring girl who believes that “everyone should be okay,” so if she could make even a small difference by cutting her hair so others could experience that joy—it brought her great happiness.
