A woman who was offered a free haircut to tidy up her hair after chemotherapy has spoken out about how important the gesture was. Daxa Patel, 54, went to CL75 Hair Salon in Whitchurch, Cardiff looking to get her hair tidied up ahead of a wedding she was due to attend.
Her hair had only just started growing out "with a vengeance", following months of chemotherapy that had left her worried about leaving the house. She walked in expecting to be charged a few pounds for a few minutes' work, but was surprised at the hairdresser's amazing gesture.
She said: "I popped my head in asking whether they could tidy it up. Jordan was at the counter and Craig had a look, and said it wouldn't be a problem and he could do it for me straight away.
READ MORE: Angry mum hits out at bullies who mocked her young son's life-saving surgery scars
"I asked him how much it was and he said: 'That's fine, don't worry about it, it's nothing.' The gesture does mean a lot for me, as somebody who had really long hair and lost all of it.
"It's growing back everywhere and just felt untidy. Going through what I'm going through, that meant a lot."
Ms Patel found a lump just before Christmas and started chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer, in February 2022. She had three tumours, meaning she needed a more intense programme of chemo which she had to end two weeks early as it was affecting her so badly.
Following this, Ms Patel had a mastectomy in August. She will start radiotherapy soon and is still waiting for the results of the surgery to see if further operation is required to remove more lymph nodes.
She said the wait for results has made her "nervous," not helped by the cancellation of an appointment. She added: "You never get away from that mental rollercoaster, ups and downs. One day I can accept anything, some days I wake up and I haven't got the energy or the strength to do anything."
She also said the hospitality of the salon staff made a huge difference: "Sometimes [when you've had chemotherapy] people just walk around you and you don't get acknowledgement, so I was nervous as it was. I'd only just started leaving the house.
"My chemo was quite intense and having had the operation, I feel different in myself. To see somebody who didn't know me just talk to me normally... they were really friendly and happy as soon as I walked in."
Ms Patel wants to raise awareness of the importance of checking for breast cancer. She said: "The important message is that people need to be aware, to check, and understand where their lymph nodes are. I felt lumps on the sides of my body and I thought, oh, that could be nothing, because you think lymph nodes are in your arms - and they're not."
Full of praise for the hair salon, Ms Patel said she'd "definitely" go back there as her hair starts growing out. To get more news from Cardiff subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
READ NEXT:
