80 Students From Coimbatore Donate Their Locks For Making Wigs For Cancer Patients

Cancer is one such disease that not only physically affects a patient, it also takes a toll on them emotionally, with every passing day. Although there are treatments for cancer, the harsh medications and chemotherapy sometimes also have a range of side-effects. And among the various adverse effects is the rapidly falling hair or balding.

While cancer survivors like Sonali Bendre and Tahira Kashyap took their balding positively and used it as an opportunity to spread awareness and eradicate the stigma associated with it, not everyone can confidently rock the bald look. Therefore, they often use wigs that help them be less self-conscious in the public eye.

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“I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.” – Cheryl Strayed, Wild. Over the past couple of months, I have had good days and bad ones. There have been days when I’ve been so exhausted and in so much pain that even lifting a finger hurt. I feel like sometimes it’s a cycle… one that starts off with physical pain and leads to mental and emotional pain. The bad days have been many… Post chemo, post-surgery and the like… where even just laughing hurts. Sometimes it felt like it took everything I’ve had to push past it… a minute to minute battle with myself. I got through it knowing that even though I was fighting a long drawn out, draining battle… it was one that was worth the fight. It’s important to remember that we’re allowed to have those bad days. Forcing yourself to be happy and cheerful all the time serves no purpose. Who are we being fake and putting on an act for? I allowed myself to cry, to feel the pain, to indulge in self-pity… for a short while. Only you know what you’re going through and it is fine to accept it. Emotions aren’t wrong. Feeling negative emotions isn’t wrong. But after a point, identify it, recognize it and refuse to let it control your life. It takes an immense amount of self-care to get out of that zone. Sleep always helps, or having my favourite smoothie after chemo, or just talking to my son. For now, as my treatment continues… my visual focus remains to just get better and get back home. It’s yet another test… Student all my life… Learning all my life… #OneDayAtATime 📷: @srishtibehlarya

A post shared by Sonali Bendre (@iamsonalibendre) on Oct 8, 2018 at 11:19pm PDT

However, these wigs aren’t cheap. Hence, in a bid to help these survivors lead their life with confidence and dignity, 80 girl students from Coimbatore donated their locks for making cheap wigs for the cancer patients, reported Business Standard.

The cost of cancer treatment is quite steep, hence many people come forward to help them in any way possible. While some help them with money, others resort to different ways to support the patient. Like this Chennai doctor who offers cancer patients free food, shelter, jobs and treatment.

These girls of a private college weren’t able to financially support the cancer patients, hence they decided to donate their thick and shiny hair. They intend to bring back the happiness in the life of such patients by doing whatever they can.

“I am here to donate my hair to the patients who are suffering from cancer. This idea came to my mind as I couldn’t support cancer patients economically,” said a donor. “Minimum of 8 inches is cropped when we donate hair but I am going to donate more than that. Nearly 80 members have registered till now but many others will also enrol. Nearly 200 people will donate hairs,” she added.

People these days have become more aware of the mental and emotional breakdown that the patients undergo, hence they try to do their best to help them.

Earlier, 700 guests took organ donation vow on a Nashik couple’s wedding day. An Odisha couple ditched the traditional wedding ceremony and take oaths on the Indian constitution and also hosted a blood donation camp. A woman from Tamil Nadu initiated a ‘Breast Milk Donation Camp’ to saves the lives of hundreds of babies.

All these stories are proof that we are growing to be more considerate and humble human beings. I salute such people who think about the happiness of others over their vanity.

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