
When I was four years old I started losing my hair in patches. My mum took me to the Dermatologist and I was told I had Alopecia Areata. I was given some DCP ointment which made the hair grow back.
When I was 8 my hair started falling out again, we went back to the dermatologist and were told to apply the ointment again, but this time I had a severe allergic reaction. We were going into lockdown because of Covid so was told it was too risky to start on an immune suppressant.

During homeschooling, I lost all of my hair everywhere and was told I had Alopecia Universalis. I was so worried about what people would think of me, that I didn’t want to go back to school or dancing. When it was time to go back to school, I got a synthetic wig. It was so itchy and hot. I was worried about it falling off when I moved around. My teacher helped me create a Youtube video letting the school know all about Alopecia and in it, I said: “I’m not sick, I don’t have cancer, It’s just Airlie, with no hair”.
I started off taking my wig during class time because I was getting too hot and found it hard to concentrate, I then took off my wig during playtime where I wore my school hat instead, and eventually worked up the courage to take the wig off during assembly in front of the whole school!

I showed the Youtube video to my dance school too, I got the courage to take my wig off during dance classes then at the end of year concert I didn’t wear a wig.
I spent eight months on immune suppressants that made me feel sick and tired and I absolutely hated the blood test at first because I was not used to them, my hair didn’t grow back during the eight months, so I decided to stop the medication as feeling sick was worse than not having hair.
Once everyone knew about my Alopecia, I felt so much better. I am proud of the person I have become, and I no longer care about not having hair as this is the new me!