A 10-year-old who cut off 13 inches of her hair to turn into a wig for a young person with cancer has set her sights on achieving a Guinness World Record (GWR).
Lexie Warwick-Oliver, who lives in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, had the chop in May at Absolute Curls, a salon in Horsforth.
The hair, which has been sectioned into roughly eight bunches, was given to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their hair to treatment for cancer or other conditions.
Thanks to the selfless action of the youngster, she was invited for a tour of the charity in Hereford on Thursday afternoon which she said was “amazing”.
“We saw some of the wigs and they were really pretty,” Lexie, who has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), told the PA news agency.
“They had really long ones, there were Afro wigs as well, and short wigs – just tons of different sizes.”
“Someone there told us it can take between 30 to 60 hours to make a wig and my hair would be mixed with other people’s hair to make one.”
Jess Warwick-Oliver, 35, Lexie’s mother and carer, told PA there were also wigs for boys and the pair met people involved with different stages of the charity’s work, including a wig knotter – who attaches individual strands of hair to the wig base.
“We went into the storeroom where they’ve all been made and there were thousands,” she said.
“We also met a wig knotter (Holly Rivers) who went into quite a lot of detail on how they make the wigs and it was so interesting to listen to.
“She said it can take around 14-16 hair donations to make a wig.”
Lexie also received a certificate from the charity which she has stuck on her bunk bed, alongside a certificate given to her by her school, Howard Park Community School, for her kind act.
Alongside having her hair cut, Lexie also raised £400, which will be used to purchase sensory items for those with additional needs at her school including weighted lap buddies, which aim to ease fidgeting and help provide a sense of calm.
“There are a few people in my school who have disabilities and I know the items would help them,” she said.
She said she hopes when her hair is used to make a wig it can help a cancer patient feel self-confident.
“If someone has cancer or a disease where they lose their hair, having a wig might be able to help them feel more comfortable going out or feel more confident.”
The youngster has plans to continue growing and cutting her hair so she can achieve a Guinness World Record.
“I want to make a world record for helping children by cutting my hair as many times as I can,” she said.
“I’ll probably keep on going until I’m 102.”
She and her mother are currently researching if any such records exist and may try to create and verify their own record if not.
