Alopecia and celebrity role models
If you live in the United Kingdom you couldn’t have failed to notice Gail Porter in the headlines recently ( for those of you outside the UK who don’t know who Gail Porter is she’s a famous TV presenter and celebrity pin-up). Gail had one of the most sudden attacks of Alopecia I’ve heard of and pretty much lost all of her hair in four weeks.
Its well documented that after the birth of her daughter Honey in 2002 she suffered severe post-natal depression, which was followed by the break-up of her marriage to Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave and it seems to have been high levels of stress that have brought on the Alopecia despite a lack of scientific evidence to back this up.
After trying to style a mohican with what little hair she had left after developing alopecia, she has now opted to shave it all off and I think this is great. We need more positive role models like Gail who can push the message across that hair or no hair we are all special and deserve to be respected. Having Alopecia is nothing to be ashamed of and with the love and support of family and friends life can still be wonderful. Gail has said it is thanks to her mum that she can carry off her brave new look after suffering alopecia. As Gail said: “I’m lucky that I’ve got my mother’s big eyes because it makes it a little easier for me to carry off my shaven look. I decided to show everyone that I’m bald, and this isn’t going to beat me.” That’s the spirit!
You would be supprised how many people with Alopecia have reached the top of their field and have never let it be a barrier to achieving their ambitions. Famous Alopecians include Matt Lucas from Little Britain, Pierluigi Collina and Barry Corbin to name but a few. Check out this great page over at Alopecia Ireland to see some more. I think we could all look to these people as a real inspiration for how to lead our lives don’t you?
Although I don’t have complete hair loss just yet I’m one step closer to looking like my all time guitar hero Joe Satraini so it can’t be all that bad. Just call me Gary “Satch” Moyle!
1 comment October 26th, 2005