By Rebecca Drew
THIS INSPIRATIONAL woman is embracing the alopecia that she’s had since she was 12-years-old after she was bullied at school and suffered with depression.
When Sarah Rose Meyers’ (17) parents first noticed a patch bald spot between her pigtails when she was 12 they thought nothing of it until it got bigger. After her eyelashes and eyebrows fell out, she was diagnosed with Alopecia universalis. At first, Sarah, who is from Los Angeles, USA, hid behind hats and wigs but the other children at school noticed that something wasn’t right and started to tease her which lead to her depression and weight gain.
Sarah struggled to get up in the morning to put on her hair and decided to reinvent herself when she started high school, ditching her wigs and heavy make up and embraced her alopecia.
“Ironically, when I was young I was very hairy. I had a really bad unibrow. I was around 12 years old when I began to lose my hair, 7th grade. It began as a small patch between my pigtails and slowly grew to half of my head when I decided to shave it off. My eyebrows and eyelashes fell out as well,” she said.
“I was very depressed and in the beginning, I was in denial, I thought it would come back. I hid under heavy make up, wigs, and really big clothes. My mums were very supportive but the kids at school would always stare at me and talk about how weird I looked.
“At first I was able to wear a beanie over my remaining hair, but within weeks it stopped being able to hide my hair loss. The night came when I got tired of seeing clumps of hair on my pillow. So I walked into my bathroom with scissors and cut off what was left of my hair. I will never forget the feeling of my head against the pillow that night.
“I was bullied a lot for looking different and not to mention, at one point I was 200 pounds. I had begun to binge and found comfort in food. At the time, I only had one friend, Beverly. I also had my health teacher, Mrs. Colby, who in a way, took me under her wing and let us into her classroom when I wanted to hide from the bullies at school.
“Because of them, I got through middle school. It was honestly the most difficult time of my life. I was incredibly depressed and my mother even said she was thinking about taking me to the hospital because I was so depressed.
“After middle school, I chose to go to a really small, community orientated high school. I decided to stop wearing wigs and just embrace my look. I wanted to feel more comfortable in my skin so I started working out and eating healthier. And that brings me to today. I’m currently a senior and I’m on my journey to self-appreciation one day at a time.
“My mum had always said to me, if you act confident, true confidence will follow. And she was right. I wanted to make a better life for myself and not feel sorry for myself. I didn’t want to hide who I was anymore under wigs because that was a really lonely life.”
First diagnosed with Alopecia universalis, Sarah’s eyebrows and eyelashes have started to grow back and she has Alopecia areata. Sarah has been able to accept her hair loss and shared her advice to others.
“I am now a lot more comfortable in my skin and I’m almost to a point of full acceptance of my hair loss,” she added.
“Of course I still have those days where I wish I was normal but then I think how unique I am and I’m proud to not look like everyone else.
“My family thinks I’m really beautiful, my mum posts on her Facebook all the time how pretty she thinks I am, which is kinda embarrassing but cute. My grandparents are a little old fashioned and ask me all the time why I don’t wear wigs.
“My friends really love me for me. They think my look is really cool and they’re proud to be friends with the valley bald girl.
“To any young people going through what I went through, I know it’s hard and I know you don’t feel attractive. And I’m sure everyone around you is telling you “It’s going to get better, it’s going to be okay” and you’re tired of it, trust me, I was too. But it’s true!
“Over time you will learn to accept your hair loss and see that your uniqueness makes you beautiful. Embrace who you are! If you act confident, true confidence will follow and people will notice.”
For more information see www.instagram.com/baldie.sarahrosie
