Shaun White became famous after winning gold medals at the Olympics in snowboarding, but his striking long red hair is what truly made him recognizable. When he won his first gold medal at the Torino Olympics in 2006, White became known as “The Flying Tomato,” which was a play on his aerial abilities and his red hair. Six years later, White cut ties with his most identifiable feature when he decided to cut his hair for charity.
In a video posted on YouTube Tuesday, White was seen getting his long red hair cut for “Locks of Love.” White said he had been thinking about cutting his hair for a while, and he decided to do it for a good cause.
According to its website, “Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.”
White joins many other athletes and celebrities who have donated their hair to the charity.
What was his reason?
“Somebody needs it more than I do.”
Few can argue with that. This is a good way for White to rehab his image after the whole drunken hotel incident in Nashville.
