First-Grader With Alopecia Celebrates Bald Head With Custom Doll: 'It's My Mini-Me'
Gianessa Wride, 7, even wore jewels on her bald head earlier this week for crazy hair day at her school.
A Utah girl, 7, with alopecia is celebrating her baldness, thanks to a friend who gifted her a custom-made doll that also has a bald head.
"It’s my mini-me," 7-year-old Gianessa Wride, of Salem said of her doll, in an interview with InsideEdition.com.
Her mom, Daniella Wride, said her friend from nursing school had made the doll for Gianessa, and purposely left off the hair so it would look more like her.
“You really don’t find that type of thing in stores," Wride told InsideEdition.com. "So when there’s nothing really available out there like that, it’s really neat when someone thinks of [your daughter] that way and has brought light and joy into her life."
Wride explained she noticed her daughter rapidly losing patches of her hair in January.
"She was taking a shower and she needed help brushing her hair — it was about halfway down her back," the mom-of-three explained. "I just noticed a lot of hair was coming out on the brush. I then noticed the bald spot on the back of her head — it was about the size of a quarter."
After different doctors’ visits and tests, the first grader was diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that attacks hair follicles. While not otherwise damaging to her health, Wride said it’s classified as a cosmetic condition, and treatment is not usually covered by insurance.
Read: Boy, 10, Spends 2 Years Growing Hair He Donated to Make Wig for Friend, 12, With Alopecia
Even though Gianessa’s disease progressed at an alarming rate, she has started to embrace her bald head and even made headlines this week when she put her own fashionable twist on her head for crazy hair day at school.
“We put jewels on my head,” she said.
Her mom added: "She loves anything that has to do with fashion. It’s sparkly, and it just fit her personality perfectly."
Watch: After 11-Year-Old Boy is Teased Over His Bald Head, Principal Invites Him to Shave His Too
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