Suffering from Phantom Hair Syndrome

Recently Will Sandwith’s friends haven’t recognized him, at least right away they don’t. Heck, even Sandwith doesn’t know it’s him when he first looks in a mirror.

Sandwith had eight years worth of long locks lopped off Aug. 26. This week he’s donating the 30 inches of tresses, along with more than $4,000 he raised leading up to the big cutdown day, to Wigs for Kids B.C.

Considering he’d been growing his carrot-coloured mop top since he was an adolescent, losing the locks has changed his look to something no one’s seen before. Even him.

“I have to take a couple of glances, especially in the morning,” said Sandwith. “I can see my ears! Who is this person? Wow, it’s me!”

It’s the second time he’s done it. When he was a kid, he decided to grow his hair for charity and after four years, in 2009, and about to move on from Glenbrook Middle School to New Westminster Secondary, he had it chopped off in front of the whole school. The then 13-year-old donated that hair to Angel Hair For Kids and Wigs for Kids B.C.

This time he had it cut by Michael Levine, who has three studios and schools in Greater Vancouver. Levine shaved the sides of Sandwith’s head with an undercut style, but there’s still a lot on top and it’s brushed to one side. He loves the look. He thinks it’s “fantastic” and so do his friends, although they admit it’s weird to look at him now, and his boss at The Spud Shack. He’s also got the approval of his parents.

“They think it’s a great look. I don’t want to say they disliked the old hair style, but they definitely like this new one,” said Sandwith. “It looks much cleaner, much more professional. It’s not so distracting.”

Losing the locks has changed a lot of little things in his life.

“It’s a lot cooler on the back of my neck. I’m not waking up with hairs in my mouth. Showers are much shorter. You step in, you get wet, you step out and you’re done. It’s so much easier to dry my hair now,” said Sandwith. “Feeling the back of my head is something I’ve never really gotten to do. Now it’s smooth, and man, that is really weird.”

Friends told him he would suffer from Phantom Hair Syndrome. They were right.

“Every time, especially when I’m walking up the stairs, I usually feel my hair brushing up against my neck or my shoulders, and I know it’s not there any more, but I still feel it. I often try to brush my hair down my back, or pull it back into a ponytail, and there’s nothing to grab,” he said.

Sandwith feels good about what he’s done. Although his goal was to raise $5,000 – donations were still being taken on the weekend at wigsforkidsbc.com– he feels good about what he’s done. “It’s fantastic that we even reached $4,000.”

A third mane marathon? Maybe.

“I would like to do it again, but I’m not sure I’d like to do it right away. I’m going to keep my hair short for a while, just to appreciate the work Michael has done and to experience what it’s like to have short hair for once in my life,” said Sandwith.