Daniella Wride(SALEM, Utah) — One 7-year-old girl didn’t let her alopecia diagnosis stop her from participating in her school’s “Crazy Hair Day.”
Daniella Wride told ABC News that she was “nervous” when her daughter, Gianessa, came home from Salem Elementary School with details on their Spirit Week that included a day called, “Crazy Hair Day.”
Gianessa was diagnosed months earlier with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the hair follicles.
The Utah mother of three added, “I didn’t want her to feel left out so I knew we had to come up with something. I just didn’t know what.”
Daniella, who is also a nurse, said her daughter began losing her hair back in January.
“I was combing through her hair after she had just taken a shower and so much was coming out into the brush,” she recalled.
That’s when she and her husband of eight years, Tyler, took their daughter to the dermatologist. By then, however, all of her hair had fallen out, including her eyebrows.
Doctors diagnosed Gianessa with stress-induced alopecia. Daniella said it made sense as Gianessa had not only endured a recent move from Tennessee, but also witnessed her grandmother die unexpectedly.
“Gian watched her collapse and she lost her hair eight weeks later,” Daniella said.
After walking through an arts and craft store, Daniella was hit by an idea after seeing scrap-booking materials — decorate her daughter’s head with adhesive jewels. It cost $4 total and only took 10 minutes to apply.
Initially, Gianessa was nervous her classmates wouldn’t like this, but “as soon as she looked in the mirror she said, ‘Mom this is awesome. I love it,'” Daniella recalled.
Gianessa told ABC News that she got an extra boost of confidence once she hit school.
“It was awesome,” she said, “because everyone liked it.”
After Daniella posted photos of her work on social media, photos of Gianessa quickly went viral.
The family hopes that it encourages others with alopecia to love and accept themselves.
“We hope that people are finding the strength and encouragement from this,” Daniella added.
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