Turning hair loss into hope for kids

When Harper Berryhill began to lose her hair during chemotherapy, she was reminded that she was not facing her diagnosis alone. In a gesture rooted in love, memory, and school spirit, one Sheffield High teacher and three generations of her family turned simple haircuts into an act of solidarity.

They called it the “Dawg Chop” — cutting off 40 inches of hair among the four of them, and donating those locks to Children With Hair Loss, a non-profit that provides wigs free of charge to children experiencing medical hair loss.

For Morgan Massey-Norton, the science teacher who started it all, the act was deeply personal and nothing new.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” she said, adding the donation made in tribute to Harper was her seventh contribution to similar organizations.

Her first hair donation was made while she was a student at Sheffield High. Though she didn’t know anyone battling cancer at that time, a friend who was also growing out his hair put her up to the challenge.

“He said he was going to donate to Locks of Love,” she recalled. “I didn’t even know what that was, so I went home and looked it up. You know, this was when I was in high school, so before we had Google on our cellphones.”

What she found surprised her. Some organizations charged families for wigs. It was a reality that didn’t sit right with her, even then.

“I remember thinking, if kids are already going through this, they don’t need one more burden,” she said. “They need to feel confident in all that they’re having to face.”

She started researching alternatives and discovered organizations like Wigs for Kids and Children With Hair Loss — groups that provide wigs at no cost to families. From that point on, Massey-Norton made a commitment.

“I don’t dye my hair, so it’s something I can do,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, it’s getting long. Let me chop it off and send it off.’” By the time she was 20, that small act of kindness became even more personal.

That year, she lost her father, Eric Massey, in an 18-month battle with cancer that began in his bladder and eventually spread to his prostate and liver. Just three years later, her grandmother, Cindy Mussard, lost her life to breast cancer after it had spread to her bones.

Both endured chemotherapy. Both had lost their hair, Massey-Norton recalled.

“They both fought really hard,” she added, tearfully. “And they both showed a lot of courage. When they were bald, it was like they didn’t care. My grandmother just wore a hat. She didn’t let it bother her. I think my dad was more insecure about his beard. He had a dark goatee, and after it had all fallen out, it came back gray and red. It’s really strange how chemo affects your hair.”

In the years since their passing, Masey-Norton began making her hair donations in their memory.

“What I think about most when I’m donating is my hair grows back,” she said. “Theirs took a lot to come back.”

By the time Harper entered her classroom, Massey-Norton had nearly lost count of the number of ponytails she’d mailed away. As she began growing her hair out again following her last haircut in 2023, she had no idea that her student’s diagnosis would change the meaning of the next donation.

“I’ve known Harper since before she was born,” Massey-Norton said. “Her mom was my 11th-grade teacher when she was pregnant with her. We’ve all grown up in these halls together.”

Rachel Berryhill remembers it, too.

“We really are all like family,” she said. “Harper was waddling down these halls as a baby. She learned to walk here.”

Those bonds only grew following the devastating news of the brain tumor that came at the end of Harper’s freshman year. Rachel wiped away tears recalling all the ways in which the students, teachers and coaches rallied around her daughter.

Massey-Norton’s stepdaughter, Khloe Norton, noticed all that support and WANTTODONATE?

Children With Hair Loss (CWHL) opened in September 2000 with a mission to provide human hair replacements at no cost to children and young adults facing medically related hair loss.

HAIR QUALIFICATIONS: Hair must be at least eight inches. Treated hair is OK if it’s healthy. Gray hair is also accepted.

HOW TO DONATE:

Talk to your hair specialist to see if they partner with non-profits like CWHL, or complete the donation form online at https://children withhairloss. org/hairdonation. Instructions for packaging and mailing are available on the website.

APPLY FOR HAIR:

Applicant must be under the age of 21 and able to include a letter from their doctor with the application. Applications are available online at https:// childrenwithhairloss. org/hair-application/.

was compelled to make a small gesture of her own.

“She just fell in love with Harper,” Massey-Norton said. “Seeing how Sheffield does it — if one of us is hurting, we all come together.”

Back in 2023, the last time Massey-Norton donated hair, her youngest daughter, Gemma, had made her first donation and had already committed to another alongside her mother.

“We started growing our hair again, and this time, my mom jumped in with us,” Massey-Norton said of her own mother, Jennifer Mussard, who is a retired Sheffield High teacher. “Gigi jumped in, and when we found out about Harper, Khloe was like, ‘I have long hair. Can I do this too?’ I said, ‘Yes, let’s do it!’” On Dec. 2, the family made it official. Gemma and Massey-Norton each donated 10 inches, Khloe donated 12, and Mussard contributed eight — the minimum required by Children With Hair Loss.

“My mom hasn’t had long hair in like 30 years. She did not look like herself with long hair, but she was rocking it,” Massey-Norton added with a laugh. “When all the ponytails were lined up together, we couldn’t tell whose were whose. It’s all red, and it’s all kind of the same texture and waviness.”

Rachel remembers being moved by the news of the family’s tribute to her daughter. She was even more impressed when she saw a photo of the locks of hair.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “If they blend all that for one wig, it’s going to be one gorgeous wig.”

Though she won’t be a recipient of a wig from Children With Hair Loss, Harper said the weight of Massey-Norton’s efforts aren’t at all lost on her.

“I couldn’t believe they did all that for me,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Facing hair loss of her own, and much sooner than she expected, Harper and her mother took recommendations from several friends and family members who found Georgia Hair Solutions, a salon in Jackson, Georgia, that offers wigs and other products to patients being treated for cancer.