Nadia’s total hair loss turns positive
She’s now Alopecia UK’s biggest ever fundraiser
generosity raised £ 10,000.”
The money will go towards research into a condition that’s still not fully understood, as well as support sessions.
Nadia is first to admit living with alopecia is difficult, and she has had dark times filled with sadness and crying. And she declared the mental aspect is probably greater than the physical - and to talk about the condition is good.
She said: “It is crazy I used to have so much hair, and to this day I still don’t really know where it all went.
“I still don’t want any pictures of me bald as I dont want it to be a permanent image - that is not me.
“At the start it was very traumatic and I was very, very sad. But now I have accepted it. It is not something I like and I have days when I am totally down and sad.
“But I am at the stage when I’d rather make some good out of a bad situation. “And fingers crossed they can do something about it in the future.”
Nadia, who has a brother Richie, 16, has used steroid cream, laser treatments with steroid injections and “horrible” acid treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital did work - but one night the hair all fell out again.
While boys with alopecia don’t have the option of a full cover- up other than a hat, Nadia relies on her wig.
She also uses glasses with a clear lens which helps keep the dust out her eyes and stops them become sore.
She added: “People find alopecia hard to talk about because they don’t know if I would be open to talk about. I’m now happy to talk and I even get my wig blow dried at my hairdresser in Ayr - that has helped me so much and makes me feel normal.” Would she ever go out bald?
“Never. I look in the mirror without my wig and it is not me. I feel a part of me is missing.”
And as one of her close girlfriends said:
I say it’s just hair, but I feel a part of me is missing