Nurse dusts off stylist skills to provide 'Haircuts for Heroes' during COVID-19 lockdown

When COVID-19 brought an abrupt end to regular visits to salons and barbers, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital staff members felt the extra stress of managing their own hair. That was until Karen Mazur, R.N., emergency department clinical coordinator at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, dusted off her skills from her former hairstylist days.

Once a week on her day off, Mazur, who lives in Richmond in McHenry County, voluntarily opened her “Haircuts for Heroes” salon, located near the emergency department conference room at the hospital. From the first day she offered this service, she was booked solid with hospital staff. Using donated supplies from her own hairstylist, she offered cuts free of charge, but then her husband and daughters gave her the idea of requesting that her clients make a donation to the NM Employee Crisis Fund when making an appointment for a haircut.

In just four weeks, Mazur raised more than $1,600 to help hospital staff in need during the unprecedented time.

Mazur started working as a hairstylist in 1983, and worked in a salon for several years, until she took a job in the corporate world. She had always wanted to be a nurse, however, and with the encouragement of her husband, she graduated from nursing school in 2004 and has been working as an emergency nurse ever since.

“It brings me to tears how many people have thanked me for such a small effort, and I am pleased that I was able to raise funds for such an important cause,” says Mazur. “It felt good knowing that I could provide a sense of relief to those working so hard on the front lines, giving them one less thing to worry about so they could focus on providing the best care for their patients.”