Man Grows Hair For 2 Years To Make Wig For Mom Fighting Brain Tumor

A loving son grew his hair out for more than two years in order to have a wig made for his mom who was battling a brain tumor. Melanie permanently lost her hair four years ago after radiation and her 27-year-old son Matt decided he wanted to help his mom feel beautiful again by giving her a wig made of his own strawberry blonde hair.

 

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  1. Matt started growing his hair out in early 2020. It took him a while, but he finally grew his locks a full 12 inches and recently had it chopped off before paying a company to hand-tie a wig for his mom.
  2. Melanie has been feeling self-conscious about her lack of hair for a while. While she keeps her spirits high while dealing with the recurrent tumor on her pituitary gland since 2003, she’s struggled to cope with the effect it’s had on her physical body. “When you wear a hat everywhere, you just stick out like a sore thumb,” she said. “I don’t mind being sick, but I do very much mind that I look sick.”
  3. Melanie has been through a lot with her health. While her tumor was thankfully benign, “it was in the wrong place and smashes important things, so you can’t let it stay there,” she revealed. She first had neurosurgery to remove it but it returned three years later. At that point, she had a second surgery, but again, the tumor returned. In 2017, she underwent radiation to keep it from growing any more. That’s when her hair began to fall out. “About three months after radiation, all my hair started to fall out, which I didn’t know would happen. And the doctor said it won’t come back,” Melanie recalled.
  4. Growing his hair was the least Matt could do. During one of his school breaks, he came up with the idea to grow his hair. While he couldn’t do it while attending Brigham Young University due to the school’s dress and grooming standards, he started in March 2020 once he returned home. Melanie was touched but unsure. “I knew it was a big ask and… there might be a time when it’s not practical for his career or with sports or relationship-wise,” she said.
  5. Melanie is loving her new wig. Not only does she have a healthy, full head of hair, but she gets to know it was a gift of love from her son means even more. “The kindness, compassion and sacrifice from Matt has really been spectacular,” she said. “He has shown a lot of love and concern.”
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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