Leisha Ritter was known for her rope-like, signature braid.
The brunette would wind her wavy locks into the style for both bad hair days and classy events. It was a staple of her style. It was also a means of helping kids with cancer.
Inspired by MU’s Dance Marathon, the sophomore did the research and made the decision to donate her hair to Wigs for Kids, a non-profit organization, one day prior the event. Rather than charging customers for the wig, like Locks of Love, Wigs for Kids custom fits and creates the hairpiece for children free of cost.
“It was great timing with Dance Marathon coming up, which raises money for kids with cancer,” friend and sophomore Molly McConnell said. “The target audience is the same for the haircutting now.”
Perched in a corner of Salon Nefisa’s waiting room, Ritter’s calm composure belied her anxiety. Long locks of coppery hair cascaded over her shoulders as she clutched a mug of steaming pomegranate tea, humming along to the words to “Paper Planes” by MIA.
“It was a really easy decision to make when it wasn’t going to happen so soon,” Ritter said. “Months ago I decided to donate it, but when we scheduled it and I started doing more research, I started freaking out. I’m not going to back out, but it’s starting to get more real.”
After the waiting period, Ritter, McConnell and sophomores Anna Petrow and Anthony Martinez were led to the back of the hair salon by employee Sarah Lockwood. The group joked with Ritter during the shampooing as Martinez took pictures.
“I look like a ‘90s grunge teen queen right now,” Ritter said, in reference to the clips haphazardly holding her hair up.
“You look great — more carefree,” Petrow said in response.
Peering through a curtain of hair, Ritter watched as Lockwood began to snip segments off. Her face remained passive despite the drastic change.
“She’s really calm,” Lockwood said. “We talked about what she wanted. She wound up having a lot of hair to give. It takes a lot of donations to make a hairpiece, so it was good she had a lot of ponytails to donate.”
Three 12-inch donations were made from the cut. Each section was bundled into a ponytail, which the salon mailed to Wigs for Kids.
After a quick blow dry, Ritter was finally allowed to see her hair, which hovered a little below the shoulders. Her blue eyes widened and dimples appeared as she surveyed her appearance.
“I think I like it,” Petrow said to the image of her friend in the mirror.
Afterward, Ritter said she had no doubts about the decision.
“It’s not that big of a sacrifice to make, in retrospect,” she said. “If you have hair that is considered relatively long, it’s a pretty easy thing to do to make such a huge difference in someone’s life. Picture yourself without hair and then imagine what it would be like to get a wig like this. I would do it again.”