GIRL WITH ALOPECIA WINS CRAZY HAIR DAY WITH JEWELED SCALP

Gianessa Wride, a 7-year-old first grader from Salem, Utah, who has alopecia, showed up to her school’s Crazy Hair Day with her bald head covered in sparkly jeweled stickers. Her mom, Daniella Wride, had decorated her scalp because she worried the day might leave her daughter feeling left out, and the look was such a hit that Gianessa took first place in the contest.

Daniella told WebMD she felt nervous when she heard about the event. “I didn’t want her to feel like an outcast or that she wasn’t like the other kids,” she said.

So she went to a craft store and came home with rhinestone stickers.

Four dollars and ten minutes

The adhesive jewels cost $4, ABC News reported, and the design took about 10 minutes to put together, according to TODAY. It included flowers and an owl, plus a butterfly, FOX 13 reported.

“They just fit her personality,” Daniella told WebMD. “She’s so vibrant and full of life, and she loves everything sparkly.”

At Salem Elementary School, per ABC News, classmates swarmed her. “People were crowding me,” Gianessa told FOX 13. “Saying, ‘You look cool, how did you do that?'” She summed it up for ABC News in three words: “It was awesome.”

CNN reported she won the school’s Crazy Hair Day contest, and WebMD said her look took first place.

How it started

The hair loss began in January 2017. Daniella was brushing Gianessa’s hair when she noticed a bald patch about the size of a quarter on the back of her head.

“It took a total of 20 days,” Daniella told WebMD of how fast the rest of it went. By the time the family got in to see a dermatologist, all the hair on Gianessa’s head was gone, and TODAY reported she had also lost her eyebrows and lower eyelashes.

She was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks hair follicles. Daniella said Gianessa’s doctor thinks the flu she had, combined with the stress of her grandmother’s death, may have played a role.

Day to day, KTVU reported, Gianessa usually wore beanies, hats and scarves. She skipped wigs because they made her head itch.

Daniella told WebMD that Gianessa still gets shy sometimes when people ask why she has no hair. She and her husband have told their daughter she can keep expressing herself through clothes, art, dance and karate.

The reaction beyond school

Photos of the jeweled head spread online and drew coverage from CBS News Texas and CNN. Daniella called the response “phenomenal” and told WebMD she heard from people around the world who have alopecia or know someone who does. TODAY reported that parents sent photos of their own children with the condition.

Daniella also visited Gianessa’s first-grade class to explain alopecia and encourage students not to bully, TODAY reported.

“I hope this brings a wave of positivity and reminds everyone that beauty comes in many forms, regardless of outward appearances or struggles,” she told TODAY.

WebMD reported there is no cure for alopecia areata, though topical ointments or steroid injections may help hair grow back, and it can sometimes regrow on its own. CNN reported Daniella said Gianessa understood her hair might not return and kept up with her activities.

As for what comes next, Daniella told FOX 13 that Gianessa was already planning for the following year’s Crazy Hair Day.