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August 2005


Six-year-old donates her hair


It took more than two years for 6-year-old Victoria Hurtado-Corn, of Lompoc, and her family to find a good reason for her to get a haircut.

But the search ended Monday when Victoria got about 12 inches taken off the bottom to donate to children under 18 who lost their hair because of an illness, injury or medical treatment.

The donated hair is collected by the Lake Worth, Fla.-based nonprofit group Locks of Love. The charity uses donated locks to make hair pieces.

locks of love

"People don't have hair because they have a special disease," Victoria said. "I don't want them made fun of because they don't have hair."

She was a little nervous on the big day, but after a little convincing from her mother,

Susie Hurtado, she mustered up enough courage. She cringed a little as her hair got cut from waist to shoulder length, but family and friends helped make it easier by rooting her on.

"We've seen it done on TV, so we talked about (Locks of Love)," Hurtado said. "She actually thought it was a good idea."

Hurtado said she used the experience to teach her daughter about the value of helping others. Victoria's 4-year-old brother, Angel Corn, is mentally disabled, so she has already had a life lesson about the disabled, Hurtado added.

Victoria's longtime hair stylist, Odile Schwartz, the owner of the Odile Salon de Beaute, volunteered her time and her skills to cut it. Schwartz has cut people's hair free of charge for Locks of Love before, but Victoria was by far the youngest donor she's seen.

"I think that's great," Schwartz said. "It's a good cause."

Once the deed was done, Schwartz styled the hair it into a long braid and put it in a plastic bag to ship off to Locks of Love.

Victoria's hair will most likely go to children whose hair loss was caused by a medical condition called alopecia areata, or are burn victims, have had radiation treatment or suffered from a dermatological condition that causes permanent hair loss.

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation's Internet site, the disease is caused when hair follicles are mistakenly attacked by a person's immune system, which disrupts hair grown and can cause bald patches or total hair loss. The disease affects 4.7 million people in the United States.

Locks of Love has helped more than 1,000 children in the United States and Canada since it started in 1997.