8-year-old goes viral after alopecia diagnosis

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — An 8-year-old Ohio girl who lost her hair is making headlines as she and her family try to educate others about her condition as part of Alopecia Awareness Month this month.

Noelle Mathews knows what she wants to do when she grows up, and she's only eight years old. But the aspiring cheerleader says she has something about her that sets her apart from other cheerleaders.

“I was scared, really nervous when I went to school because I felt like someone was going to laugh at me,” Noelle said.

It's something that brings her mother, Brooke Mathews, to tears.

“She's missing that part of her identity. That's what I worry about as she gets older,” Brooke said.

Brooke said her daughter was diagnosed with a severe form of alopecia, a disease that causes hair loss all over the body. She said the hair loss started when Noelle was just 2 years old and has gotten progressively worse.

“It came out in clumps, and I immediately thought of what the doctor had told me several years ago. I remember going up to my room and telling my husband. I said, 'She's going to lose her hair,' like I just knew it, and that was October 16. And two weeks later she was completely bald,” Brooke said.

Brooke said they tried creams, eyebrows and wigs, but Noelle's natural hair never grew back.

So Noelle told her class about it to help others understand. It's part of a video that went viral and received hundreds of supportive comments, but it didn't stop the bullying.

“These sixth graders were walking past me and laughing at me, and I didn’t like that,” Noelle said.

For Alopecia Awareness Month this month, she and her family are hoping for one thing.

“I don't want people to feel sorry for us. I just want people to know what it is and not look at us like we have a sick child,” Brooke said.

They hope that people will understand and accept Noelle.

“I like who I am and you probably like who you are,” Noelle said.