'Dream Hair Station' brings faith and hope to children with cancer

Many young people donate their hair at the festival. — VNA/VNS Photo Hạnh Quyên

HÀ NỘI — A total of 303 sets of hair were donated by kind-hearted people during the third Hair Donation Festival, named 'Dream Hair Station', which took place at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) on Sunday.

The festival is an opportunity for participants to donate their hair to children with cancer.

Along with the hair donations, this year's event also included other worthwhile activities, such as giving wigs made from real hair to both children and adults with cancer, free haircuts for patients, meetings and exchanges between patients and volunteers and displaying wishes from hair donors to cancer patients.

Nguyễn Thành Linh, Deputy Head of the Social Work Division under the NIHBT, said that the 'Dream Hair Station' programme has always supported cancer patients at the institute.

Donations of hair are very meaningful for cancer patients, helping them confidently live a normal life.

Among the hair donors were many families who brought their children to participate. Even people with thalassemia, a blood disorder, also donated their hair to the sick children.

Hứa Thị Liễu, a long-term patient with thalassemia, said that the idea of ​​donating hair came from her daughter, an eighth grader.

She was grateful to the blood donors who helped her mother stay alive and wanted to send her mother's hair as a thank you.

Although she could not come with her mother due to distance, her idea sparked the gift of her mother's long hair.

At the event, Hoàng Thị Diệu Thuần, the programme's founder, shared her own story with emotion.

She was once a cancer patient herself, receiving treatment for many years at the NIHBT.

After that, she continued to support cancer patients with a variety of activities.

To date, more than 13,000 people have participated in the hair donation programme, which has been running since 2022.

Many paediatric patients at the NIHBT and the National Children's Hospital have received new hair through the programme.

Children and adults with cancer experienced many different emotions at the event.

Some children were happy and excited, laughing and joking, but some were so moved that they could not hold back their tears when receiving their new hair.

A child patient who is being treated at the Pediatric Hematology Ward said: “I am very happy and excited to receive this hair. I never thought I would get sick and have to shave my hair. I am truly grateful to everyone.”

Also at the festival, NIHBT cleaner Đỗ Thị Thu created an emotional moment when she donated part of her long hair.

Every day, Thu sees the children being treated, and said she always worries and wants to help.

"Seeing the children lose their hair, I often can't hold back my tears. This is my small present to them. I wish the children could overcome their difficulties," Thu said with emotion.

For children with cancer, hair loss due to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is not only a loss of part of their appearance, but also their confidence, often making them shy and hesitant when interacting with people.

They wish to have hair again so they can go to school and meet their friends with self-assurance.

To help them realise this small but meaningful dream, the 'Dream Hair Station' programme was organised by the Network for Children with Cancer.

The programme provides detailed instructions for hair donations to meet standards: natural hair as short as 25cm can be donated, whereas chemically treated hair can be donated if it is 35cm long. All of the donated hair must be washed, dried and stored in a paper bag after cutting for no longer than one year.

Donors can bring the cut hair to the event or cut it directly at the festival.

The 'Dream Hair Station' festival has become a bridge, bringing people closer together to share warmth and give more motivation to children with cancer during their journey to fight the disease. — VNS