Dream Hair Station: Give Hair, Change Smiles

The shiny, bouncy hair suddenly became shoulder-length, but everyone was happy because the hair they gave away would return confident smiles to the children with cancer at the Dream Hair Station.

7 children received new hair at the Dream Hair Station on October 8 - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

It is an event called Hair Donation Day: Dream Hair Station initiated and implemented by the Network for Children with Cancer.

Up to now, this project has received 3,087 donated hair sets, giving over 150 new hair sets to children being treated at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion and the National Children's Hospital .

Give your hair

People often say "first figure, second skin, third hair", hair is ranked third in the things that make up a person's beauty, everyone wants to take care of their appearance. However, children with cancer do not have the right to choose, chemotherapy treatments cause their hair to gradually fall out.

For that reason, the Dream Hair Station project was initiated by the Children's Cancer Network in October 2022. And in October 2023, the second Hair Donation Festival: Dream Hair Station was held at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

Hair given away, in exchange for smiles - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

Since the morning of October 8, many hair donors have been present at the Festival waiting to donate their hair. Among them are uncles, aunts, students, working people but also primary school students.

Knowing about the hair donation activity through his aunt's introduction, Nguyen Chi Nhat Anh (9 years old) decided to follow his aunt to the festival. Holding the neatly cut hair in his hand, Nhat Anh was very happy because he had done something meaningful.

"I want to help children with cancer who have no hair to have new hair. I love them very much," Nhat Anh shared.

Baby Nhat Anh is confident in her new look with shoulder-length hair - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

There was also a special character at the festival, Nguyen Khanh Ngoc (13 years old, Bac Ninh) who was a cancer patient treated at the National Children's Hospital when she was only 18 months old. In 2016, her illness relapsed, fortunately after chemotherapy Ngoc's hair grew back, thicker and more beautiful.

Loving her hair more than anyone else, Khanh Ngoc still decided to cut it short to her shoulders to give her hair to sick children. Because she wanted to give them more energy and motivation to fight their illness.

Hair of baby Nguyen Khanh Ngoc (Bac Ninh) before and after donation - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

Pham Thuy Ngan, 24 years old (living in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) decided to join the festival immediately when she saw the announcement about the Hair Donation Festival of the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion the evening before the event.

"I have grown this hair for nearly 2 years, when I decided to cut it off I was quite regretful because it was associated with many memories of mine. But today with 40cm of donated hair, I hope to help children have new hair", Thuy Ngan happily said.

The hair donation festival is also a place for sick children to draw pictures and wear bracelets - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

Change smile

Wearing her new hairstyle, Pham Van Anh, a pediatric patient at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, seems to have completely changed, more confident, and brighter. Van Anh still remembers clearly the day she discovered she had leukemia, which was August 23, 2022.

"I found out I had cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy. At first, I had no hair. I was very sad... But I saw that my siblings were like me. They could do it, so I also tried to get treatment so I could go to school, go out, and be with my family more.

I am very happy when I have new hair. Because with this hair, I will be more confident and try harder, giving me more motivation to fight the disease," Van Anh choked up.

Hundreds of hairs have been donated at the Dream Hair Station - Photo: NGUYEN HIEN

Ms. Hoang Dieu Thuan, founder of the Network for Children with Cancer, is also the initiator of the Dream Hair Station project, hoping that new hair will help children with cancer feel more confident to go to school and go out while waiting for their hair to grow back.

"We are very happy to receive the thanks and smiles from the children. I want to tell them that hair loss can grow back. You can rest assured to receive treatment, and let the teachers take care of new hair," Ms. Thuan shared.

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