Utah girl shows bald is beautiful


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SALEM – Bald is beautiful for a little girl in Salem, Utah, who proved it by winning "crazy hair day" at school.

Gianessa Wride, 7, has an auto-immune disease called Alopecia, which caused her hair to all fall out in just a matter of weeks. Her mom, Daniella Wride, believes it was caused by the stress of several moves and the loss of her grandmother. Gianessa's hair fell out in clumps, until they finally cut off the rest.

Wride says Gianessa loved crazy hair day last year in kindergarten, and had all her hair rainbow-colored like a unicorn. But this year, as it approached, Wride wondered what to do about it. Some suggested she ask the school to cancel the day, Wride said.

“She just wants to be like everybody else, and have fun and participate. There’s no sense in taking that experience away from other kids,” Wride said.

So Wride "bedazzled" her daughters head with jeweled stickers that are normally used for scrapbooking. The owl and flower patterns were a huge hit, she said.

“We pulled up to the drop-off point and she started to get out of the car, and you could just hear the kids and the teacher saying, ‘That’s so cool, that’s awesome!’” Wride said.

The first-grader’s “hairdo” was proclaimed the best in her class and the best in school.

“I asked her how her day went, and she said everyone kept swarming me, they loved it,” Wride said.

The school now calls the day “crazy head day.”

Wride says her little girl is showing others how to stay brave and strong no matter what happens to you.

“Gianessa is awesome, she wants people to feel comfortable with who they are; just embrace life and have fun and be fierce and be an inspiration to others," Wride said.

Publications around the world are now sharing her story and pictures as well.

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