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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jade Culver & Graeme Murray

Mum of girl with unruly hair due to condition told 'brush it' by cruel strangers

The mum of a girl with an unruly hair condition is often told "why don't you brush it" by rude strangers who uncaringly compare her daughter to Rod Stewart.

Rosie Thundercliffe-Boughton has uncombable hair syndrome which causes her whiter hair to look dry, wiry, and out of control.

Mum, Lisa, 43, has no choice but to either let the three-year-old's hair stay wild, or tie it up in loose pony and pig tails due to its fragile state.

The teaching assistant often gets a range of comments from members of the public cruelly comparing Rosie's hair to singer Rod Stewart, US President Donald Trump and even the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Lisa, a mum of three, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire said: "When Rosie was born, she only had a very light sprinkling of very fine white hairs.

Three-year-old Rosie playing outside with her bright white unruly hair (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)
Rosie with her hair more tamed along with her mum Lisa (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)

"Family members would compare her to a little chick.

"When she turned two, her hair really gained a life of its own.

"Her hair is nothing like mine or her dad's, Philip, 52.

"A friend sent me an article about a little girl with a similar condition, it was obvious that Rosie has uncombable hair syndrome too.

"We get stopped all the time when we're out and about.

"People are usually very fascinated, and we get a lot of comparisons.

"My favourite one so far was that she looked a bit like a miniature Einstein.

Rosie pictured with spikey hair which often gets compared to singer Rod Stewart (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)
Her unruly 'mad' hair often attracts criticism from cruel strangers (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)

"Looking at Einstein's hair, maybe he had it too!"

Despite the abundance of nice comments Rosie receives for her hair, there have been others who have not been so nice.

Lisa said: "There were a bunch of rude people once in a cafe we were in.

"We were minding our business when they started raising their voices and saying comments like 'she looks like she got dragged through a hedge backwards'.

Rosie's hair has a mind of its own and despite trying a range of products, her mum has been unable to tame it (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)
Rosie's uncombable hair is incredibly hard to tame and hundreds of products have been tried with no success (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)

"And 'have you never heard of a hairbrush?'

"I kept my cool and left but feel if I was to be in similar situation again, that I would defend Rosie to show that her that she is beautiful and that her hair is amazing."

Rosie's uncombable hair is incredibly hard to tame, with Lisa trying hundreds of products to no avail.

She said: "I never brush Rosie's hair when it is dry, it must be wet or full of conditioner, and even then, I only go through it with a de-tangler brush.

"It's very fluffy to touch, it feels like cotton wool, but breaks off very easily.

"Her hair is quite short compared to other children her age.

"It grows very slowly and she's never had a haircut.

Rosie with windy pig tails which always attract a lot of attention in public (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)
Rosie's mum, Lisa, has no choice but to let it remain wild or tie it up in loose pony and pig tails (Mercury Press & Media Ltd.)

"When I brush her hair, it seems to be painful for her, so I usually keep styling to a minimum to avoid tears."

Rosie is set to start at primary school in September, so Lisa has been preparing her with educational books about hair.

She said: "I bought Rosie a book called 'Don't Touch My Hair'.

"It's aimed at young children with afros, but Rosie hates having her hair touched, so I want to make sure that she knows that she can say no.

"With her hair being so fragile, it feels good to prepare her for an environment where she might face some challenges.

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