"Please Give to Friends Battling Pediatric Cancer"‥Three Sisters Donate Their Hair

Three Sisters, Relay of Hair Donations Over Eight Times

(Photo from left) Sisters Jang On-yu, Jang Si-on, and Jang Si-yu who cut and donated their hair to help children with cancer [Provided by Yangju City]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Youngcheol] Three sisters who are taking turns donating their hair to help children battling pediatric cancer are gaining attention.

The protagonists of this kindness are sisters Jang Onyu (12), Jang Sion (10), and Jang Siyu (8), who live in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.

According to Yangju City on the 14th, on the 11th, the youngest sister Siyu donated her hair to the "Hair Sharing Campaign for Children with Cancer." This was Siyu's second personal donation and the eighth donation combined by the three sisters.

The sisters' good deed began when Onyu, who entered elementary school in 2015, learned about the "Sending Hair to Children with Pediatric Cancer" campaign promoted by the Korea Leukemia Pediatric Cancer Association through her father and decided to donate her hair.

Children undergoing chemotherapy have weakened immune systems and must wear 100% synthetic wigs treated with antibacterial agents. However, the notice explaining that it is difficult to afford wigs costing millions of won due to financial difficulties from cancer treatment expenses moved the sisters' hearts.

At that time, Onyu persuaded her second younger sister to join the donation. The second sister, Sion, cut her hair for the meaningful donation, even though she had never cut her hair since birth.

Since then, the two sisters have consistently grown their hair for donation purposes and donated 30 cm of hair each in 2017 and 2019, showing kindness three times so far.

Encouraged by her older sisters' continued good deeds, the youngest sister Siyu naturally joined the hair donation relay, making her first donation in 2018 and her second donation this year, three years later.

The total length of hair donated by the three sisters over eight donations amounts to 2 meters and 40 centimeters. Moreover, their donations are even more special due to the medical history of Onyu and Sion.

The two sisters suffer from Moyamoya disease, a rare intractable brain disorder, and have each undergone two brain surgeries, leaving long surgical scars from the crown of the head to both ears.

Since a minimum hair length of 30 cm is required for donation, and short hair makes it difficult to cover scars, the sisters did not stop donating despite these challenges.

Onyu said, "Seeing friends who have been hospitalized for a long time due to pediatric cancer made me feel a greater sense of responsibility for the donation," adding, "The joy of helping sick friends is greater than any embarrassment about scars."

Sion said, "Seeing my father make warm donations to marginalized neighbors despite difficult circumstances made me want to help someone," expressing her commitment to donation by saying, "I want to take good care of my hair and continue to be a small help to sick friends."

Siyu said, "Long hair is prettier and I want to perm it, but seeing my sisters donate made me follow their example," and expressed her intention to continue donating by saying, "If my sisters keep donating, I will join them."

The sisters' mother, Esther Choi (38), who currently works as a social worker, said, "I am proud of my children who find joy in sharing with those in need," and added, "They will continue donating as long as they want to."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.