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Julie Ann Marra
Herald/Review
SIERRA VISTA — The sound of the hair clippers was almost inaudible over the crowd’s anticipation. Cameras flashed in his face. But Alexander Rios sat smiling in the barber chair. It was his 13th birthday, and he was getting his first haircut.
“I can’t do it, I’m done,” joked Eddie Franco, the barber who was cutting off Alexander’s approximately 3-foot-long braid.
But Franco kept cutting, and in the span of a few minutes late Friday afternoon, Alexander’s head became a lot lighter.
 On Friday, Alexander Rios prepares to have his first complete haircut at Franco’s Barber Shop in Sierra Vista. Eddie Franco had the honor of cutting off the braid, measuring more than three feet long, that will be donated to Locks of Love. (Suzanne Cronn•Herald/Review) |
Watch Josh Van Meter's video of this event on svherald.com, under Multimedia on the left-hand side of the home page.
“My mom encouraged me to keep it growing and growing for kids who have cancer,” Alexander said.
When his hair was down, it hung about to his knees and was approximately 4 feet long. Now, he’ll donate his hair to Locks of Love and provide, most likely, four children a wig made with real hair.
Sadly, the Rios family has experienced the difficulties of living with cancer first hand. Their grandfather, known as Danda, lost the battle with myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood, a year and a half ago. He was 70 years old.
“Alexander realized that the way his Danda was, he wouldn’t want kids to have to go through treatments and stuff like that ... and he thought it would be neat to donate it and give back to kids that are less fortunate,” said Madeline Rios, 40, Alexander’s mother.
Madeline’s father had also been a member of the Shriners, an organization that provides free orthopedic and burn care to children. Also, Madeline lost her sister in 1974 to leukemia.
It was celebration Friday at Franco’s Barber Shop. Besides his father Sammi, 40, his older brother Sebastian, 15, and his mom, Alexander had eight other friends and family members come watch the big haircut. Madeline was more nervous than her son, her hands shaking as she walked into the barbershop.
But Alexander was smiling the whole time.
His hair had required a lot of upkeep. It took 30 to 45 minutes to wash his hair. Together, Alexander and his mother used a bottle of conditioner a week. He couldn’t even braid it himself. His dad did. “I’m used to braiding, ’cause when I was a kid, I had to braid my sisters’ hair, so it was one of those family things, and I didn’t have a problem with that,” Sammi said.
The sides and bangs were trimmed over the years though. Franco just cut around the braid.
Alexander said he was a little nervous about cutting the back for the first time, but he was happy about it too — he’ll be a lot cooler this summer! But at the same time, Alexander knows what a great gift he is giving.
“When they lose their hair, it’s like losing a part of their body. So they need to get a wig, which is what I’m going to have, four of them,” Alexander said.
When Franco was finished cutting Alexander’s hair, the crowd applauded as Alexander hopped down from the chair with short hair. The cameras flash again. Flo Franco, the barber’s wife, told the family the haircut was on the house. A birthday gift from the Francos.
Now, officially a teenager, Alexander and his family head to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate his birthday and a wonderful good deed.
Herald/Review reporter Julie Ann Marra can be reached at 515-4680 or julieann.marra@svherald.com.
Parent of wrote on Jun 22, 2008 8:30 AM: