‘If people want to stare, let them’

SOMEONE else who knows only too well what it’s like to lose your hair is Dundee teenager Megan Fletcher.

Megan headed the Tele’s Bald is Beautiful Campaign while fighting cancer.

She shaved her head only days before she began her chemotherapy treatment.

Today Megan said her advice to Lucy was “if people want to stare, let them stare”.

She said: “To begin with it’s hard to ignore the funny looks you get from people but gradually you get used to it.

“And it’s important to remember that they may be staring because you’re bald but they actually have no idea why you’re bald or what you may be going through.”

When Megan was first diagnosed with cancer she realised pretty quickly that the chemotherapy treatment she would need to save her life could result in her going bald.

Instead of sitting back and waiting for the inevitable to happen and give the school bullies a chance to make fun of her, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She invited the Tele along when she had her head shaved — sparking the launch of the campaign.

She said: “It’s a horrible thing to lose your hair and I feel for Lucy. I understand what she’s going through but she needs to cope in any way she can. Although Lucy has a different condition from me, we both lost our hair.

“I think it’s worse for a girl than for a boy. It’s a girl thing to be interested in hairstyles and how they make us look.

“I didn’t want to watch mine falling off on my pillow and I also wanted to get one up on the bullies. I was able to cope because I knew I was raising money for a really good cause.

“I also knew that my hair would probably grow back. I don’t know what is going to happen with Lucy but hopefully she will find her own ways to cope.

“She must remember people only stare for a short while. They get used to seeing you however you look and then there’s someone else for them to stare at.”

One high-profile celebrity affected by alopecia is Scottish TV presenter and former model, Gail Porter.

She decided not to wear a hat or wig in order to raise awareness of the condition when it struck in 2005.

She became ambassador for the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides wigs to children with hair loss.

MEGaN FlETchER