Lovingly making wigs for other cancer warriors
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#stage4needsmore
Jo is a popular hairdresser known and loved in Gloucestershire who was diagnosed with breast cancer aged just 38 . Jo has vowed to carry on making wigs for fellow cancer patients for as long as she can.
Mum-of-two Jo Hall, who was told she has stage 4 cancer in 2021 after being given the all-clear in May, learned to make wigs while having chemotherapy. She wanted to do something for other patients after discovering how much a wig helped restore her sense of self-esteem after she lost her hair during her treatment.
She said: “When I was bald I didn’t feel like myself and it was really distressing. It made me think that I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to making wigs for women who are going through cancer treatment''.
Jo found a lump in her breast in May 2017 but it was diagnosed with mastitis and treated with steroids, antibiotics and a low dose chemotherapy drug. The lump returned in March 2020 and when she went back to Cheltenham General Hospital doctors found five tumours and told Jo the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. She had a mastectomy followed by five-and-a-half months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In September 2021 Jo was delivered the shocking news that the cancer had spread into her spine.
Jo closed Jo Hall Hair Design, which she ran from a converted garage at her home, and took an online wig-making course. “When I lost my hair I had to wear a wig and I loved it so much I just couldn’t imagine not wearing one, so I wanted to learn how to do it so I could make other people feel good,” she said.
“I bought a few horrible wigs and that depressed me but then I bought a really nice one that was more expensive and it made a big difference to my confidence. It was exactly like my own hair, I looked in the mirror and I saw myself looking back.”
Jo began receiving requests to make wigs for a range of people battling with health conditions that had resulted in them losing their hair. Each wig costs £300 and takes a day to make, with real hair ordered online from Malaysia stitched onto a hairpiece and then coloured and cut to match the wearer’s own style.
“I was paying for them out of my own funds but I couldn’t afford to carry on doing that,” said Jo. “I also sold a few and now my friends have started a GoFundMe page so that the money from there could pay for the wigs. I’ve made about 15 so far and have more orders coming in.
“I love making the wigs because I find it therapeutic but I also know that when a woman who’s lost her hair through cancer treatment puts it on, she is going to feel feminine and pretty and it could make the difference between her lying in bed feeling depressed and getting up to face the world.
“I was dreading losing my hair more than my breast to be honest and when I was completely bald it upset people around me. They can’t handle it because it is so visual and you look like a cancer patient. No one wants to look like that.”
Jo, who says she has had tremendous support from her twin sister Louise, Partner Gavin, Mum, Brother and other family and friends, said: “I feel great in myself, that’s why it is all a shock and as long as I’m feeling healthy I want to do something positive,” she said. “I’m upbeat because I don’t want to waste a second being sad. I want to cram in as much as I can and I hope that being able to make these wigs will be my legacy.
“When you look in the mirror and you can see your old self because of the wig it makes you feel stronger and it makes you feel that cancer hasn’t stolen yet another thing off you, because cancer does steal everything.”
Jo is a popular hairdresser known and loved in Gloucestershire who was diagnosed with breast cancer aged just 38 . Jo has vowed to carry on making wigs for fellow cancer patients for as long as she can.
Mum-of-two Jo Hall, who was told she has stage 4 cancer in 2021 after being given the all-clear in May, learned to make wigs while having chemotherapy. She wanted to do something for other patients after discovering how much a wig helped restore her sense of self-esteem after she lost her hair during her treatment.
She said: “When I was bald I didn’t feel like myself and it was really distressing. It made me think that I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to making wigs for women who are going through cancer treatment''.
Jo found a lump in her breast in May 2017 but it was diagnosed with mastitis and treated with steroids, antibiotics and a low dose chemotherapy drug. The lump returned in March 2020 and when she went back to Cheltenham General Hospital doctors found five tumours and told Jo the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. She had a mastectomy followed by five-and-a-half months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In September 2021 Jo was delivered the shocking news that the cancer had spread into her spine.
Jo closed Jo Hall Hair Design, which she ran from a converted garage at her home, and took an online wig-making course. “When I lost my hair I had to wear a wig and I loved it so much I just couldn’t imagine not wearing one, so I wanted to learn how to do it so I could make other people feel good,” she said.
“I bought a few horrible wigs and that depressed me but then I bought a really nice one that was more expensive and it made a big difference to my confidence. It was exactly like my own hair, I looked in the mirror and I saw myself looking back.”
Jo began receiving requests to make wigs for a range of people battling with health conditions that had resulted in them losing their hair. Each wig costs £300 and takes a day to make, with real hair ordered online from Malaysia stitched onto a hairpiece and then coloured and cut to match the wearer’s own style.
“I was paying for them out of my own funds but I couldn’t afford to carry on doing that,” said Jo. “I also sold a few and now my friends have started a GoFundMe page so that the money from there could pay for the wigs. I’ve made about 15 so far and have more orders coming in.
“I love making the wigs because I find it therapeutic but I also know that when a woman who’s lost her hair through cancer treatment puts it on, she is going to feel feminine and pretty and it could make the difference between her lying in bed feeling depressed and getting up to face the world.
“I was dreading losing my hair more than my breast to be honest and when I was completely bald it upset people around me. They can’t handle it because it is so visual and you look like a cancer patient. No one wants to look like that.”
Jo, who says she has had tremendous support from her twin sister Louise, Partner Gavin, Mum, Brother and other family and friends, said: “I feel great in myself, that’s why it is all a shock and as long as I’m feeling healthy I want to do something positive,” she said. “I’m upbeat because I don’t want to waste a second being sad. I want to cram in as much as I can and I hope that being able to make these wigs will be my legacy.
“When you look in the mirror and you can see your old self because of the wig it makes you feel stronger and it makes you feel that cancer hasn’t stolen yet another thing off you, because cancer does steal everything.”
Organiser and beneficiary
Jasmine Endersby
Organiser
England
Joanne Hall
Beneficiary
