Eight-year-old Katelynn lops off her luscious locks again

KATELYNN Walsh (8) from Ballymurphy recently donated 16 inches of her hair to the ‘Locks of Love for LauraLynn' foundation, which makes wigs for children who have cancer. The haircut took place at Bevelle Hair Salon in Bagenalstown.

This is the second time that Katelynn has donated her hair after she first donated 16 inches of hair four years ago when she was only four years’ old.

Katelynn’s mother, Sonia Walsh, says that Katelynn got the idea to donate her hair to the foundation after seeing their advertisements on television. Katelynn had been deeply affected by the adverts that featured sick children and asked her mother about the foundation’s work. Sonia explained that the treatment for cancer can cause people’s hair to fall out and not grow back for a time, so people wear wigs in the interim.

“Katelynn said that she would love to help out in any way possible,” Sonia recalled.

At the time, Katelynn’s grandmother had cancer and she had watched her granny lose her hair because of chemotherapy.

Katelynn decided to grow out and then donate her hair to the charity ˗ it must be longer than 12 inches. Sonia said that Katelynn’s hair grows incredibly fast and she still gets regular haircuts while she grows it out.

“She’d often get an inch or two off her hair to kind of spruce it up or whatever, but her hair is just amazing,” Sonia said.

The decision to donate her hair again is due to the same reasons that she donated her hair in the first place. Sonia described Katelynn as an empathetic child who is always keen to help those in need.

“She will definitely do it again in the future,” Sonia said.

For Katelynn, the most rewarding thing from this process is the message that her family receives typically about two weeks after her haircut, telling her that her hair has been used to make a wig and that the wig is on its way to a sick child.