Chicago Man Takes A Year To Grow Hair To Donate To Cancer Patients, Only To See It Lost In Shipping
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The sad reality is that packages get lost all the time, and most of us can relate to that frustration.
But one viewer sent a priceless parcel that took him a year to grow – literally. It was his own hair, headed to a charity that makes wigs for cancer patients.
CBS 2's Tim McNicholas went on the hunt for what happened to it.
"Just wanted to make a donation to a charity that meant something to me; that had a personal connection to me," said Jonathan Diores.
Diores is a four-year survivor of thyroid cancer.
"Thyroid cancer, I guess, if there's a benefit, is that I don't have to through chemotherapy," Diores said. "So I have the benefit of not losing my hair."
The 30-year-old Chicagoan usually keeps his hair short. But that changed with a year of growth.
"I have literally just been taking a ruler to my head for the last couple of months and measuring it," Diores said.
When it hit 9 inches, Diores' mom, a hairdresser, snipped it off.
Diores packaged it up, along with a $60 donation for Children with Hair Loss, a Michigan charity that helps young people left without hair due to medical issues.
"On the 4th, I went into UPS and I shipped it from Chicago to Michigan," he said.
When the package didn't go anywhere, Diores went back to the UPS store where he had dropped it off.
"They told me it was probably lost, and that's when they asked about the value of the package," he said.
They told Diores the cash could likely be replaced, but as for those precious locks, he said, "They told me it was worthless."
Angry, Diores took the issue to social media. He got sympathetic comments from others, but a canned answer from UPS.
"It really hurts," he said.
As we Zoomed with Diores on Friday, we checked the tracking info again. Even though he had sent it from Chicago on Jan. 4, it then showed as shipped from Monroe, Michigan on the 12th.
A cryptic update on the 15th just said "information."
"You know, that's actually different," Diores said. "Wow."
The update showed that the package had actually shipped.
By the way, this is the second time Diores has donated. He did once before in college, in honor of a friend with cancer, and he plans to do it in the future.
However, he said, "Next time, I'm personally delivering it."
So we end with some good news and bad news.
The UPS store eventually confirmed to us that they have deemed the package lost. But they want to make a $350 donation to the Children with Hair Loss charity, and give Diores $100, which is the standard liability amount.
He thought that was great, because the money can at least help kids in need.
Diores has some tests scheduled this week in his own battle with cancer. We wish him the best.
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