Kelly's hair was badly matted from weeks spent in bed by the time she mustered up the energy to leave the house.
A Wisconsin hairdresser had no idea she would do much more than transform her client’s coiffure when she offered her services to a woman who had not left her bed for months because of severe depression.
"I feel better when I walk outside," Kelly, 29, told InsideEdition.com. "I was always in [pajama] pants when I left the house. Now, I can hold my head up high."
Before her visit with hairdresser Kate Langman, 22, it had been more than half a year since Kelly had gotten out of bed. She had crippling depression, she explained, and couldn’t find the energy to take care of herself.
She had put her hair up into a messy bun, and after several months of not showering or brushing her hair, it had become badly matted, and tangled to the point where she couldn’t undo it herself.
When Kelly finally mustered up the energy to leave the house, she made her way to an Ulta Beauty store, and started throwing hundreds of dollars’ worth of product into her basket, "anything to help get that knot out of my hair," she said.
That’s when Kate, a hairdresser at the store, approached her, and listened to her story. She then offered to fix her hair.
Read: Cancer Survivor Gets Her First Post-Treatment Haircut in Moving Video
The pair set up an appointment, but when the date came around, Kelly missed it. She then rescheduled, and missed the appointment again.
“It was relieving seeing her walk in, because I knew she still had the drive to get herself back to where she felt like herself again,” Kate admitted. “I really wanted to help her and get her to feel better.”
Realizing she had a lengthy task at hand, Kate brought Kelly to a more private room in the back, and got to work. For the next nine hours, Kate said she snipped, untangled and treated her hair. She even had time to give it a pop of color.
"I didn’t want her to feel like she bought hundreds worth of product to only feel like she failed herself,” Kate said. “I didn’t want her to feel like she put herself through another failure.”
When it came time for the big reveal, Kelly said she was amazed — not only with how good her hair looked, but how good it made her feel.
Read: Boy, 4, With Autism Gets His Hair Cut on the Floor, Thanks to Kind-Hearted Hair Stylist
"A lot of people would have just said, ‘You know there's nothing we can do, we're just going to shave your head,'" Kelly said. "They wouldn't have actually stuck with it and tried as much as she did. It means so much to me."
Not only did Kelly walk out a new and refreshed self, she said she’s made a new friend for life.
“She's like a really good friend now she made me feel so much better about myself and I can't thank her enough for that,” she said of Kate. "I'm going to continue coming to her."
Watch: Woman Posts Video of Psychotic Episode to Raise Awareness: 'Seeing It Is So Different'
