File Photo Maggie Shoobridge
Above left, Sarah Stikeleather, age 12, with her lifelong locks of golden hair. Above right, Sarah,
age 17, waiting with a hair book.
Above going clockwise,
1 1111.1?:;. I 1 ■ p..... K:r* I “
*-■ ■ ■■ v f .
Lee Ann Sherrill/CITIZEN
COMB measurement. The first cut. Sarah with her hair reward.
Lee Ann Sherrill
IREDELL CITIZEN
Seventeen-yea k-old Sarah Stikeleather
ot Statesville reached another
monumental goal when she ^U-Mwfrrf
JO more mchcrof hairlo the Locks of
Love (LOL) organization.
At age four Sarah was diagnosed
with leukemia and, over a two-and-a
half year period at Baptist Hospital in
Winston-Salem, she lost her hair three
times during chemotherapy.
“It was more tragic for mom than her,”
said Sarah's mom, Tammy Cromie-Wilkins.
Although Sarah was happy to wear an
assortment of hats during that time, she
watched the joy of several friends at
Baptist when they received donations
from Locks of Love.
The fijSLUrnr Saftrirdonatedherhair
■\vasnve years ago as a way to mark
her 12th birthday and her five-year
anniversary of being cancer free. It
was then that her mom said, “We’ll do
this again in five years to mark your
ten year anniversary."
Sure enough, the day after her 17th
birthday thepairshowed upatAbsolutely
Salon on Davie Avenue so hair stylist
Roger Rumple could do the honors.
With a big smile and photographs in
hand of the new do she wanted, Sarah
hopped in the styling chair and took off
her glasses.
Roge^puHqU^^rhcTllainnto a ponytail,
ladFout a comb and measured the
length. Soon Tammy had the shears
in her hands once again and, for the
second time, cut off her daughter's golden
In a short time Sarah’s hair was styled
and she was ready to show the world.
“You've got a grown-up hair style,"
Roger said.
After putting her glasses back on Sarah
saw the new do and announced “1 love it!”
For now, Sarah will enjoy the short style
during dance at Dancers Unlimited
Sarah’s Mom Tammy Cromie-Wilkins cuts her daughter’s hair for Locks of Love,
Hair stylist Roger Rumple
shows Sarah her ponytail
SIBES-cljiss and while swimming for
"ISpecial Olympics. But her main goal
is to set a record for donating the most
times to Locks of Love.
Sarah was the first LOL donation from
the salon this year. But she hopes her
action will inspire more folks with
long hair to donate.
To make a donation to LOL it takes at
least 10 inches of hair. Two inches are
lost in the manufacturing process and
each hairpiece takes six to 10 donated
ponytails. A vast majority of the kids
who get hairpieces are girls, but boys
do, too.
For information on how to make a
donation visit the LOL website at
A hug of thanks. Sarah thanks hair stylist
Roger Rumple for her new “do.”