This Teacher Is Dyeing His Hair Wild Colours For The Best Reason

For most of us, dying our hair is all about personal expression. Whether rainbow shades like gemstone purple or rosy pink, or more-natural ones like 2017's on-trend honey-laced brown, picking a colour has everything to do with mood, budget, and lifestyle.

But for John Sigmon, a middle school teacher in Kernersville, North Carolina, his hair is a bright, trendy shade of pink right now for a different reason: To raise money for a good cause.

Each week, the social studies teacher is leaving the fate of his strands up to the student that can raise the most money for a 6-year-old boy who desperately needs a service dog — and it's been quite successful. The students have already raised hundreds of dollars.

Warren VanTassel, a pupil at a primary school in town, was diagnosed with Epilepsy at 15-months-old, and currently suffers from seizures almost weekly. Sigmon hopes to raise enough money so he can buy VanTassel the service dog he needs to remain calm during his Epileptic seizures. Seems like an easy task, right? Not so much. It turns out, service animals can cost thousands of dollars.

“There's not really a whole lot you can do except for just protect him and hope that he comes out of it quickly,” Warren's grandmother Susie Hook told WFMY CBS News. He's had 85 seizures so far.

Sigmon’s hair is already garnering a lot of attention. “When I walk down the halls, there's always comments going on,” Sigmon told the news outlet. “The kids love it.” This isn't the first time he's used his strands to help a student in need. The local news outlet reports that he raised a whopping $2,500 (£2,000) three years ago to help a student fighting leukaemia, that time offering up a turn at shaving his head.

“Anytime we can be a positive influence, not just on somebody in need, but also get other people involved, that's what we're here for,” Sigmon told the news outlet. Only time will tell how much the teacher will raise — or what colour his hair will be next — but we wish him all the best luck, and shades, for his selfless endeavour.