Hair today, gone tomorrow

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay local, Mario Argyropoulos, has donated his ponytail to CANSA to be used to make a wig for children.

Mario says: "I have a soft spot for children." He and his wife, Georgia, own Kids Kingdom preschool and school in town. Mario explains that there have been children at Kids Kingdom with Cancer. This is the third time Mario has donated his hair to CANSA.

Previously he has shaved his head, but this time, his ponytail was so long that he decided to donate that and not have his head shaved.

Lynn Honiball of D Studio, where Mario had his hair cat, explains: "The ponytail must be 28cm long. It's great that Mario has curly hair. Usually it is straight ponytails that are donated. They need curly hair."

Celesté Scheepers was the hairdresser at D Studio who had the honour of snipping off the locks.

"I didn't want any recognition for this," Mario says. He would have preferred to keep quiet about his deed, but Lynn, impressed with Mario's commitment to helping cancer sufferers, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser about its.

Celesté Scheepers about to cut off the ponytail.

"Kids inspire me," Mario says. "They are true to themselves. What you see is what you get. I wish adults were more like that." He says children are happy with the simplest things. "We need to get back to basics and have more child in us."

Mario also notes that people with ponytails and tattoos are often stigmatised. "They are not bad people," he says.

People asked Mario if it was difficult to have his long hair cut. "I told them 'no'. It's not a limb or an organ. It's just hair. When you have a good crop, you harvest it."

Mario's ponytail.