CHICAGO — For someone battling depression, even the simplest tasks – like getting out of bed or brushing your hair – can seem impossible. A salon worker in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, shared how she gave a client facing a debilitating mental illness a life-changing makeover.
Kate Langman, who works at an Ulta store, said she met her future client as she was pulling bottle after bottle of hair products off the shelf. As she asked if she needed any help, the woman shared her story with Langman.
“She couldn’t get out of her bed for 6 months. Which meant she didn’t wash her hair or brush it,” Langman wrote in a Facebook post that’s since gone viral. “She kept pulling it back into this bun which after that long of time turned into a huge dread lock. The bun was so matted that it felt like she literally had rock on the back of her head.”
That’s when the 22-year-old worker suggested she put away the products and make an appointment with her at the salon for the following day. She didn’t show up, but called back a couple weeks later and made another appointment. Once again, the woman didn’t come in.
“At this point, I figured she wasn’t going to ever end up coming in. It actually, kind of, broke my heart. I wanted to help her so much,” Langman said.
Then one day this month, the woman came into the store while Langman was working, hopeful she could get a same-day appointment because she had finally been able to get out of bed again.
“I, of course, said yes. I didn’t care how late I stayed, I wanted to make sure she got taken care of,” Langman said.
Though she acknowledged that most stylists would have wanted to cut off the matted hair, Langman said the woman hoped to keep it long. Eight-and-a-half hours later, Langman had transformed the woman’s hair – with more than half of that time spent detangling it with a comb. She said all her effort was all worth it to see the woman’s face as she ran her fingers through her hair.
“If this ever makes its way back to her, I want her to know how great, wonderful, kind, loving, and how strong of a person she is. And not only those things, but how beautiful she is.. she deserves nothing but happiness,” Langman said.
=================================
9-year-old sells $6K worth of lemonade to help sick brother
GREENWOOD, S.C. — A 9-year-old boy from South Carolina sold lemonade to raise money for his sick baby brother. In just two hours on Saturday, he made nearly $6,000.
Andrew Emery wanted to help his parents pay for his little brother Dylan’s medical bills. Dylan has Krabbe disease, a rare and serious illness that affects the nervous system.
On Saturday, Andrew set up a lemonade stand at a used truck dealership called Southern Wheels in Greenwood. He also sold “#TeamDylan” T-shirts. He raised $5,860, which was added to $1,300 from a concert the night before and $5,600 from a GoFundMe fundraiser.
“I’m gonna spend it on doctor’s bills and stuff, and buy him a teddy bear too,” Andrew told the Index-Journal of Greenwood. “I just want to help Dylan. He’s my baby brother.”
Dylan’s parents are with him at a hospital in Pittsburgh, where he is receiving treatment. His mother, Melissa Emery, shares updates about his condition on a Facebook page.
“The calls, texts, thoughts, and prayers have been continuous and so numerous we can’t count. We’re so appreciative!! Please keep them coming because we’re grasping at each one to help us through the day.
For the people who are doing fundraisers and donating, I will never be able to repay you for helping us, but please know we’re so thankful, and I pray that God will bless you to the end of the earth!!” she wrote last week.
Andrew’s mother said he was excited from the beginning to have a little brother, and the fundraising is just one way he shows his love for Dylan.
“It’s really hard to explain to a 9-year-old what’s happening. From the minute he found out he was going to be a big brother, he was in love with it,” she said. “I see every day that he’s special, and now everybody else can, too.”
Even though Andrew can’t be with Dylan right now, he talks to him through video calls. He has big plans for when his baby brother comes home.
“I’m going to hug him,” Andrew said.
