Debra Buccarelli, left, looks at 20 inches of her hair, which was cut by hairstylist, friend and fellow cancer survivor Patricia Shira at Salon Donna Marie at 7619 Buffalo Ave. Click on photo for larger image

Losing her locks for love

Tuesday, June 01, 2026

Debra Buccarelli feels like a new woman.

Some friends are having trouble recognizing her. Others can’t help but cry when they see her.

“People keep saying I look like I lost weight or I am younger,” an excited Buccarelli said Sunday afternoon, a couple hours after getting her first real haircut in more than two decades. “I look like a different person, but it looks good.”

Buccarelli admits it was tough to chop her 35 inches of hair — but her reason for doing it was worth it. She made a donation to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

“I was a little nervous before getting it cut, but I kept remembering why I was doing it,” the Niagara Falls resident said. “I did it without crying.”

According to its Web site, 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. Donors are asked to send a six- to 10-inch ponytail, which will be matched with similar donations and combined with about 10 other ponytails to make one wig. The entire process takes more than a month.

Buccarelli is donating a little extra than the requested 10 inches — she had 20 inches of hair cut off Sunday.

“I’ve known for a year I wanted to do this,” she said. “I just wanted to leave enough for my hair to be at shoulder’s length.”

She chose Sunday for the cut because it was the one-year anniversary of when she had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor that collapsed her lung. While she doesn’t know what it’s like to lose her hair, Buccarelli’s close friend Patricia Shira does.

Shira, a Wheatfield resident, suffered from ovarian cancer. It now is in remission and she’s had her hair back for about two years. She said she’s proud of Buccarelli’s decision to donate her hair.

“I know how I felt when I didn’t have any hair,” Shira said. “She looks beautiful. To do what Debbie did, I think it’s awesome, and more people should know about it and do it.”

A stylist at Salon Donna Marie on Buffalo Avenue, Shira has been giving Buccarelli hair touch-ups for several years — so it was only fitting she was the one who cut it Sunday.

“She’s always wanted to do it,” said Buccarelli, who besides the occasional trims hasn’t had a haircut for 23 years. “My hair has always been my signature. People will come up to me on the street and compliment me on it.”

While Buccarelli likes her shorter hair — she had portrait photos taken at Wal-Mart after the hair cut — she’s not sure it’s permanent.

“I might let it grow all back just so I can donate it again,” she said.
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