Just a little off the top

Abeba Kitchen braces for Kathleen Cutsey to cut off all her hair.

Having good hair is an important aspect of every teenage girl’s life, and it is nearly impossible to find a high school girl willing to sacrifice her hair for someone she doesn’t even know, but that is exactly what West Ferris Secondary School student, Abeba Kitchen has done.

Witnessing firsthand the financial and emotional strain her family endured when she was in a Sudbury hospital for a month last year, Kitchen felt compelled to shave her head and help fellow schoolmate Jessica Gough, who is in a Toronto hospital recovering from a double lung transplant.

“I had a seizure in my best friend’s pool (Elliot Lake) last July and I nearly drowned, they took me to the hospital and then I was moved to Sudbury,” she explains.

“When I was in the hospital my parents had to pay a lot to live down there but everyone was very kind and generous. I know it’s expensive in Toronto for her mother, so I thought this would be a good way to help.”

Kitchen confessed that she only knows of Gough and the two have never met, but remembering the generosity shown to her and her family during her time of need moved Kitchen to offer up her locks for Gough in April.

“I knew of her from school and decided to do this in April, and I asked everyone to give what they could in order for me to shave my head.”

Kitchen says she was nervous in the final moments when she sat in the chair and the scissors were revealed.

“At first I was ... yes I’m ready for this ... but then I was ... mmm maybe not,” she laughs.

In the end Kitchen didn’t let her nerves get the better of her, and with a quick slice of Kathleen Cutsey’s scissors she was sporting a new look.

“I thought but my hair is going Angel Hair for kids to be used for kids’ wigs and it’s a good cause and I’m helping a family.”

The students were very generous and in just over six weeks Kitchen’s classmates raised $850 for the Gough family.