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This 7-Year-Old With Alopecia Found a Clever Way to Celebrate Crazy Hair Day at School
Meet Gianessa Wride, a 7-year-old from Salem, Utah who was able to redefine “Crazy Hair Day” at her school.
Wride was recently diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the hair follicles. Wride’s mother, Daniella, first noticed symptoms around the beginning of the year.
“On January 1st, Gianessa had taken a shower,” Daniella Wride told CBS News. “After her shower, I was helping her brush her hair. Her hair was down to the middle of her back. I noticed that a lot of hair was coming out in the hairbrush and so I began looking around her head. I found a bald patch on the back of her head the size of a quarter. I also noticed that around her temples it was beginning to thin. We let her go to bed without telling her what was going on. I didn’t want to scare her. My husband and I called her pediatrician the next day and made her an appointment.”
After a month of doctor’s visits, all of Gianessa’s hair had fallen out and her diagnosis of alopecia was confirmed.
“It took a total of 20 days,” Wride told CBS News. “I tried to explain it to her on a 7-year-old level, but tell her the exact truth. You can’t beat around the bush with kids.”
A few months after her daughter’s diagnosis, Daniella Wride found out the school was having “Crazy Hair Day.” Daniella Wride was very “nervous” about the event, but came up with an excellent way for her daughter to express herself while still participating in the event.
“I was really nervous when I found out that it was coming up,” the mom told CBS News. “But I didn’t want her to feel like an outcast or that she wasn’t like the other kids, so I wanted to come up with something fun for her. I went to the Walmart craft section trying to see what I could find and put together for her.”
Wride continued, “I came across these scrapbook sticker jewels. They just fit her personality. She’s so vibrant and full of life and she loves everything sparkly.”
Gianessa Wride was skeptical about the idea, but once the jewels were applied it was a major hit. Her classmates thought it was pretty neat as well.
“She opened the car door in the car drop-off lane and kids were already telling her that it was amazing and awesome and that they wish they could do it and that it looked so great,” Wride told Huffington Post. “When she got home from school she told me they all told her that they absolutely loved her crazy hair.”
Daniella Wride shared the photos of her daughter and they quickly blew up on social media. Many people were quick to comment on just how awesome the idea really was.
“So awesome! This little girl is my freaking hero! It’s not the circumstances that define us. It’s what we do with them that make us who we are meant to be! Bless!” one user wrote.
“We hope that people are finding the strength and encouragement from this,” Daniella Wride told ABC News.
Your Daily Dish has reached out to Daniella Wride for a comment.