Kid hero: An 11-year-old boy who grew out his hair for a great cause

As little girls, it’s highly likely that you (or someone you knew) got a big time hair chop and donated the cut locks to an organization making wigs for cancer patients. Chances are you didn’t know many little boys doing the same thing. Well allow us to introduce 11-year-old Dimitros Passias who brought hair donation to a whole new level.

Dimitros, who lives in Raynham, Massachusetts, is a fifth grader at Raynham Middle School, a football player, and an amazingly selfless kid. That’s because he spent almost two full years purposely growing out his hair long enough to be able to donate it to children with cancer or other diseases that cause hair loss.

Little boys with long hair are often teased for looking too feminine, but Dimitros laughed at gender norms and kept on growing it out for those in need. “He made the decision and stuck to it,” his mom, Djara E. Hampton, told the Taunton Daily Gazette “Even though he was teased for ‘looking like a girl.’”

Keep in mind that as a football player, Dimitros’ long hair proved to be a problem that other kids on the team didn’t deal with: it made him hot and sweaty and got in his face during practices. But he didn’t give up on his hair or football — he just stuck it out, because he knew that it was worth it. “He truly believed that he was doing something great for someone else who endures so much more than mere discomforts or inconveniences,” Hampton told the Gazette.

April 7th was the day when Dimitros was finally able to get his hair cut, so he marched over to the Envy Hair Salon to get his beautiful locks cut. Look how handsome he looked before:

AND after:

His gorg hair was donated to the Children With Hair Loss Foundation (CWHL), which aims to provide lovely (and free) wigs to children who have lost their hair due to illness. CWHL provides wigs to over 300 children a year. Obviously CWHL relies on kindhearted people like Dimitros to make these wigs a reality.

Was Dimitros’ mom surprised by what her son did? Not at all. In fact, this is pretty typical Dimitros. “He is an exceptional child academically, and his heart is much bigger than his small frame,” she told The Gazette. “I am proud of him.”

You’re truly a kid hero, Dimitros. A hat tip to you.

Images via