Alopecia: My Story - HeadzUp

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ready, they’ll go and choose one.Then Imelia can decide whether
‘If I’m honest, I’d rather both of them were aff
fected, rather than
just Imelia,’ Leanne continues. ‘But I do think it’s easier fo
r boys.
My brothers used to shave their heads from the age of 14 or so.’
Imelia has a prescription fo
r a wig. Leanne says when Imelia is
or not she wants to wear it.‘Maybe fo
r fa
mily parties and
celebrations,’ says Leanne.
As a child, Leanne says,‘I had a nightmare of a time. I had so many
tests, but they never fo
und out what was wrong. Wigs weren’t available
when I was little, so everyone knew that I didn’t have hair.
Then I got one, at the age of about 6 or 7, so
everyone knew it was a wig. I had a lot of bullying, and not much was done about it. My mum just told me
to get on with it.’
Imelia’s school has been much more supportive than Leanne’s was.
‘There’s a child with Down’s Syndrome in the class, and a child who’s
partially deaf,’ says Leanne,‘and the children themselves are very
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mixed.There are more diff
ferences within a class than
when I was a kid.’
Leanne wears a wig all the time. Her partner, r
Steve, has never seen her without it. ‘It’s my
security. I fe
el nake
d without it,’ she laughs.
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