‘I am not a boy and I’m not ill,’ says brave 7 year-old Northamptonshire girl, as she raises awareness for Alopecia UK

Eliza was diagnosed with alopecia when she was two-and-half-years-old and by five-years-old she had lost almost all of her hair. Wanting to raise awareness of the condition, she declared she was going to start selling her toys to donate money to the charity.

There are different forms of alopecia with alopecia areata being the most common. It is estimated to affect 15 in 10,000 people in the UK and can present at any age, although 50 per cent find it starts in childhood. It is a chronic, inflammatory condition affecting the hair follicles which then leads to hair loss, which is usually unpredictable. It is still unknown as to what triggers this autoimmune reaction.

Hannah White, Eliza’s mum said: “I was so sad when we had the diagnosis, thinking I would never be brushing my daughter’s hair. People would ask if she had cancer and adults would stare.

“But I was so amazed when Eliza announced she wanted to sell her toys to raise money for the charity. But I can see why. They have done so much for us.

“They organised a day trip to Alton Towers and it was so emotional for me. I watched her running around with other children with alopecia and she was so carefree, it was great.

“We also have online meetings with the charity and Eliza has made so many friends.”

When asked how she felt about her alopecia, Eliza said “The worst thing is when people don’t know I’m a girl. Even when I’m wearing pink. The best thing is not getting nits or having to wash my hair after swimming.”

Hannah and Eliza are organising a very special event in July. You don’t need to be involved with the alopecia charity, you just need to want to have some fun and perhaps learn a little about it. If you are a business that would like to sponsor the event, or even just donate a raffle prize you can email Hannah ([email protected])To find out more about alopecia, you can go to the charity website.

Please give Eliza's instagram a follow @elizaalopecia15 and her fundraising page can be found here