A schoolgirl bullying victim who went bald due to relentless abuse will get “life-changing” hair loss treatment after an anonymous donor gave her £4,000.
Bonnie Pullan, 10, began losing her locks three years ago after classmates at her primary school reduced her to tears every single day. Doctors later diagnosed the girl with alopecia, a sometimes-permanent hair loss disease, which was brought on by the stress of her daily school experiences.
Bonnie's mum Wendy, 38, managed to halt the constant harassment but Bonnie's hair failed to grow back due to her ongoing issues with anxiety. Wendy then campaigned to raise the £5,000 that Bonnie needed for a prosthetic hairpiece, which she said would help to get her “confidence back”.
The advanced wig is sealed in place with an adhesive, which means Bonnie can wear it for years without having to take it off. And just days after the appeal went viral, Wendy confirmed that an anonymous donor had contributed the thousands needed for the specialised hairpiece. Writing on Facebook, the stunned mum said: “Wow, an online donation of £4,000 and we’ve done it. Raised the full amount and Bonnie will get her hair piece.”
Many on social media shared in the celebrations after Wendy said Bonnie’s mental health had suffered deeply following her alopecia. One wrote: “That's amazing!! Congratulations Bonnie.”
Wendy, a special needs teaching assistant from Halifax, West Yorks., said she first noticed a bald patch forming on Bonnie’s head after she turned seven. She said: “She would come back crying every day from school, and that’s when we noticed hair missing from her head.
"Then we were told it was caused by alopecia, which was linked to the stress that she was going through at the time. It got to the point where she wasn’t really eating, and I could see it was affecting her a lot. I did go into the school, and they dealt with it really well, and it stopped.”
During the lockdown, when children were banned from school, Bonnie’s hair grew back, but as soon as the government allowed kids back into classrooms Bonnie’s stress and anxiety returned. Wendy said Bonnie’s mental health has begun to “spiral” following her hair loss as she has grown older.
She said: “It’s created so many mental health issues for her - body image is the main one. She doesn’t like herself in her own body, and she’ll say things like, 'My friends are pretty, I’m not pretty'. The only thing we can do is be strong for her and tell her how beautiful she is, and to us she is anyway – hair or no hair.”
Wendy learned about options for non-surgical treatments after Yorkshire Hair Clinic, in Huddersfield, helped another girl with alopecia. The bespoke product, called a “CNC” medical hair replacement system, fits onto the top of people’s head, making it difficult to tell that it’s a prosthetic.
Hayley Jennings, 42, co-owner of Yorkshire Hair Clinic, said: “Each hair replacement system is designed to fit like a contact lens, so each system is individual.” The clinic had volunteered to help Bonnie raise the £5,000 needed for the procedure by organising sponsored events.
Wendy added: “Bonnie has been really strong for the past three years, but now she’s turning 11 and the hormones are kicking in. Over the past few months, in particular, she’s found it very difficult, so this really would be life-changing for her.”
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