A person’s hair can be such a definable feature of their sense of self. It is often one of the first things you notice about someone upon meeting them for the first time.
This video shared by Truly on YouTube tells the story of an Australian girl who was diagnosed with uncombable hair syndrome, or "spun glass hair," when she was just 5 years old.
Shilah Madison Calvert-Yin, 12, has been bullied all throughout her young life simply due to the look of her hair. This tween’s hair is often completely unmanageable, easy to break off, and matted at the roots. Her mom, Celeste, is routinely at a loss with how to help her daughter style and manage her unruly hair.
Shilah’s genetic disorder was discovered when she went in for a routine dental procedure and her brittle teeth came to light. Both brittle bones and teeth are another symptom of the rare disorder.
Celeste first noticed something was different about Shilah’s hair when she was just 3 months old. A lot of her baby hair had fallen out, and she was left with new frizzy hair.
Along with the new hair came a lot of uncalled-for comments and jokes about Shilah’s hair, including insults about how she must have stuck her finger in an electrical socket to get her hair like that. Over the years, though, Shilah has grown to accept the thing that used to make her feel so insecure as her own little superpower.
“I have definitely learned to love my hair and come to terms with it because it makes me unique and different [from] other people,” Shilah proudly explains.
To learn more about what makes this amazing girl different in the best way possible, watch the full video from Truly.
