6 year old Los Lunas girl donates hair

LOS LUNAS—Six-year-old Caleigh Pesina has made it her mission to donate her hair for children who are chronically ill, and because of her generosity, a haircut is being named after her at Revive Salon in Los Lunas.

The Los Lunas native donated her hair once before at the age of 4, said her mother, Nicole Pesina.

“She was watching TV and saw the St. Joseph’s Hospital commercial come on,” Nicole said. “After that, she started asking questions about why the kids in the commercial didn’t have hair.”

Nicole took that as an opportunity to explain to Caleigh about cancer, and immediately she wanted to donate her hair.

“I was hesitant because she was 4 and I wanted her to keep her long hair,” Nicole said. “But she insisted so I took her to go get it cut. That first time she cut about 8 inches off.”

Now at age 6, Caleigh had 10 inches cut at Revive, and she donated her hair to Wigs for Kids. Nicole searched on online to find an organization that specifically catered to children, per Caleigh’s request.

They also went with Wigs for Kids because the organization does not charge the families who are receiving a wig.

According to its website, the non-profit organization has been providing custom-made hair replacements for 30 years to children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues.

“It makes me proud; I cry thinking about it. It makes me proud that she has such a big heart,” Nicole said.

Karen Garcia has been the owner of Revive Salon in Los Lunas for a little more than a year. She heard Caleigh’s story and decided to name a haircut after her — the Caleigh Cut.

Garcia said if anyone comes into the salon to donate 10 inches or more of hair, the haircut will be complimentary and the hair will be given to Caleigh so she can donate to Wigs for Kids.

“It inspired me to do something because she’s a big inspiration,” Garcia said. “I think that doing something like this could potentially start a movement. If a 6 year old can do it, other people might want to get involved.”

Revive Salon is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When asked if this was something she wanted to keep doing, Caleigh gave an emphatic head nod. Nicole said this is something she wants to do every two years.

“I wanted to make wigs for little girls to make them feel pretty again,” Caleigh said.