Two brothers have gone viral after revealing they had been growing their hair for years just to donate them to kids who lost their hair.
Aaron and Kaleb Tekabework, aged 9 and 11 respectively, are two brave brothers from Philadelphia who endured bullying and teasing for their selfless cause.
As the pair proudly revealed, they stopped cutting their hair back in 2016 after seeing a documentary that showed a young cancer patient get a wig made of real hair donated by another person.
Deciding to put their hair to good use as well, the pair started growing their tresses and waited until they became nearly 20 inches long.
While the brothers often got teased and compared to girls because of their long hair, they never gave up on their cause to make other children happy by giving them their hair.
Five years later, the brothers had their locks cut off and donated to Wigs for Kids, a charity that provides wigs to kids who lost their hair because of chemotherapy.
In addition, Aaron and Kaleb also managed to raise over $3,400 for Addis Ababa University College of Health Sciences and their cancer research.
“Growing our hair for four-and-a-half years was stressful because we would always just get our hair tangled swimming and then have to stand for hours to untangle it,” 11-year-old Kaleb admitted.
“And we’ve been through a lot of bullying and teasing at school, but it also gave us a reason to explain why we were growing our hair.
“I just kept reminding myself of why I’m growing my hair. I’ve just kept going because no matter what I wanted to accomplish and reach my goal.”
Recalling the moment they got their hair cut and donated, 9-year-old Aaron added: “We pretty much just got a haircut, but it was our first time in a barber shop so we were a bit nervous, at the end it was pretty fun though. We took a picture with our hair saying goodbye I’ll miss you!”
As the boys’ proud mother, Senafikish, admitted, her sons immediately decided to go through with their plan after she allowed them to grow their hair all those years ago.
“We were inspired by our sons. Their willingness to give part of their body to someone who is in desperate need of it was such a meaningful act of charity and selflessness,” she explained.
“What has always amazed us is that despite many people including their peers at school commented about their hair and mistakenly referred to them as ‘girls’, they don’t talk about it unless specifically asked why they are growing their hair.
“They know why they are doing this and they are determined to go through the pain of grooming hair daily and the bullying by their peers.
“This for us was the very essence of giving selflessly and from the heart with the only motive being doing something kind for someone else and see them smile.”
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