A university student in Turkey's western Edirne province has been donating her hair for leukemia patients since she was 11-year-old.

Münevver Gizem Erdil first started to cut her hair in order to empathize with leukemia patients and those who lost their hair in chemotherapy treatments and she has been donating her hair to the Health and Education Foundation for Children with Leukemia (LÖSEV) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) ever since.

The 22-year-old woman waits for her hair to grow about 30 centimeters to cut it and she had her hair cut four times in the past 11 years for wig production, as well as to meet the expenses of the patients.

Erdil told Anadolu Agency that she is doing as much as she can in order to help the patients.

"Empathy is very important. When people look at young children with leukemia, they look with pity. In fact, just a smile is enough," she said.

Erdil said that sometimes she receives "get well wishes" from people as they assume that she is sick by looking at her short hair.

Saying that she donating her hair is the least she can do because she is not financially well off, Erdil added, "I would donate more if I had the money."