Regaining confidence: handmade wigs help kids with cancer
Wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped children who have lost their hair regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs, Avatte has donated more than 300 wigs since 2009 and says he was motivated to begin the project by the pain he felt when his own son lost his hair during chemotherapy.
Hair stylist Marcelo Avatte (L) dries the hair of Pamela Matus before she allows him to cut it as a donation for the making of a natural hair wig for a girl undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, in Vina del Mar
Pamela Matus (R) holds locks of her hair as stylist Marcelo Avatte (L) writes down the characteristics, for the making of a natural hair wig for a girl undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, in Vina del Mar
Workers Edith Marfil (L), Marcela Reyes (C) and Rosa Salgado make natural hair wigs to be donated to girls undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, at the workshop owned by hair stylist Marcelo Avatte in Santiago
Marcela Reyes makes a natural hair wig to be donated to a girl undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, in Santiago, August 22, 2014. The wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped the children regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs, Avatte has donated more than 300 wigs since 2009 and says he was motivated to begin the project by the pain he felt when his own son lost his hair during chemotherapy.
Edith Marifil makes a natural hair wig to be donated to a girl undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, in Santiago
Hair stylist Marcelo Avatte fits a natural hair wig on Alexandra Munoz, 5, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy for a brain tumor, in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago
Alexandra Munoz, 5, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy for a brain tumor, plays with her new natural hair wig after it was fitted to her for the first time in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago
Alexandra Munoz, 5, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy for a brain tumor, poses in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago
Alexandra Munoz, 5, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy for a brain tumor, poses with the natural hair wig she received as donation from hair stylist Marcelo Avatte in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago
Hair stylist Marcelo Avatte (L) prepares to fit a natural hair wig on Isidora Serrano (R), 14, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy to treat her bone cancer, in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago, October 23, 2014. The wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped the children regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs.
Hair stylist Marcelo Avatte prepares to fit Isidora Serrano, a 14-year-old who lost her hair due to chemotherapy to treat her bone cancer, with a natural hair wig in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago
Isidora Serrano, a 14-year-old who lost her hair due to chemotherapy to treat her bone cancer, walks on the street for the first time after receiving a natural hair wig as a donation in Santiago, October 23, 2014. The wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped the children regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs, Avatte has donated more than 300 wigs since 2009 and says he was motivated to begin the project by the pain he felt when his own son lost his hair during chemotherapy.
