Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Maria Holloway
MEXICO — Nine-year-old Brycen Waugh of Mexico had been growing his hair for nearly a year.
While watching television with his grandmother, Brycen saw a commercial in June 2016 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; he had a lot questions about the children, the disease and the reasons why these children lost their hair. For the next couple of months, Brycen’s mom, Katie Gurney, tried to answer young Brycen’s many questions.
Soon it was time for his back-to-school haircut. That’s when Brycen informed his mom he wasn’t getting one; he had decided to let his hair grow long and told his mom he wanted to donate his locks to a child in need.
They got to work researching organizations and found Wigs for Kids. Nearly a year later, on June 15, Brycen and his mom went to House of Beauty in Mexico for their hair cuts. Both donated their locks to Wigs for Kids in Saint Clair Shores, Mich. Brycen donated his hair in honor of Hailey Steward, a young girl from Bethel fighting a courageous battle with cancer. Gurney donated her locks in honor of her aunt, Eileen Booth of Connecticut, whose cancer is now in remission.
For more than 30 years, Wigs For Kids, a non-profit organization, has been providing free hair replacement systems and support for children who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, alopecia, trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues.
Reporter’s note: If Brycen’s name sounds familiar, you might have read it here in a story we published last fall about his hunting “grand slam,” bagging a turkey, moose, bear and deer during one hunting season.
