Simon Catling
A son made an incredible gesture to his cancer-battling mother by growing a wig for her so that she could replace her loss of hair with his own.
Mother of six Melanie Shaha was first found to have a benign brain tumour of the pituitary gland in 2003.
It started a long-running battle with cancer and, over fifteen years later, she ultimately lost her hair after undergoing radiation treatment as a result of the third re-occurrence of the tumour.
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Shaha's tumour was reportedly the size of a plum and affected the functioning of her pituitary gland. Located at the brain base, the gland controls hormones related to growth, stress, and metabolism.
Step forward her son Matt, who told Today that he brought up the idea of making a wig out of his hair as a joke.
"I said, 'Why don't I grow out my hair to make a wig for you?'" the 27-year-old said.
Melanie initially laughed off the suggestion, but the offer soon became a serious one, and the mother accepted.
"Not having hair, you stick out like a sore thumb and well-meaning people can say things that break your heart," she said.
From there, Matt ended up growing 12 inches of hair over the next two and a half years and eventually cut it off in March this year with the help of his coworkers.
Recalling the moment Matt had his haircut, Melanie said: "We were super-pumped and when they started cutting, we bawled."
Her son also paid $2,000 for a California wig-maker - Compassionate Creations - to make the hairpiece.
The company subsequently shared shots of his mum in her custom-built wig, captioning the post on social media: "Had to share these candid shots of our client Melanie rocking her custom-built wig!
"We had the perfect blond supplemental hair in stock to pair with their submissions and couldn't be happier with the results!"
The hair represents a happy ending, after initially being shocked to lose her hair despite doctors telling her she wouldn't.
"You know, I've lost my eyebrows, lost my eyelashes, I lost my hair, so it's just been such a tremendous gift to be able to have a more normal appearance, to go places and not stand out because you look unusual, but to fit in and be beautiful," she said.
"It's really great."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week