7-year-old donates hair to patient

Seven-year-old Dantez Sena of Tucumcari had been thinking for a while about cutting his 30-inch-long hair for the first time because it was getting in the way of his playing sports.

But he decided if he was going to lose those long locks, they would benefit a cancer patient who needed it.

Last month, it finally happened. Dantez's parents, Paul and Kayla Sena, took him to Lacy Hastie's salon in Tucumcari for his first-ever haircut. Dantez's hair was tied into a braid to make it easier for Hastie to handle, and she was forced to use heavy-duty scissors to cut that long, thick mane.

"The more she cut, the bigger his smile got," Kayla Sena recalled during a phone interview.

Dantez's parents and grandparents received a few strands of his hair as souvenirs. Kayla posted before, during and after photos of her son's haircut session on Facebook. The gallery received 170 "likes" as of Sunday. Two weeks before the appointment, the Senas measured their son's hair. It was 30 inches.

Kayla said her son briefly became saddened when he saw the shorn braid in his hand but brightened when reminded it would benefit someone else.

She said it seems he always had a luxurious head of hair. When he was born, Dantez already sported thick, curly locks. Paul and Kayla decided to let their son keep growing it and let him make his own decision when to cut it.

Kayla said sometimes classmates would make fun of his long hair and call him a girl. But the deal-breaker was when Dantez began playing baseball, basketball and flag football. Sometimes opponents would grab his braid. On the ball diamond, Dantez found it difficult to even put on a batting helmet because of his long, thick locks.

Dantez finally said he wanted his hair cut.

"It's in the way," Kayla recalled him telling her.

Dantez was informed some time before his decision about programs where people can donate their shorn locks to cancer patients who often lose their hair because of chemotherapy treatments.

"He loved idea of giving his hair to someone who couldn't grow hair on their own," she said.

The Senas have made arrangements with a woman in Amarillo who will make a wig from Dantez's hair. They're hoping she can find a patient in the region who can use it. Kayla said she also is researching through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital whether the wig can be donated through it.

The Senas dropped Locks of Love as a hair-donation option because the nonprofit organization sometimes charges recipients a fee for the wigs. The Senas want to give the wig to the cancer patient at no charge. Dantez also wants to meet the person who will wear his hair.

Aside from his brief moment of regret, Dantez has remained buoyant since his first haircut, and for good reason: Kayla said his hair already has grown 1 1/2 inches since it was cut in late June.