There is nothing more attractive, than the sight of an individual who knows their flaws and accepts them with open arms. An individual who is unapologetic about his or her blemishes. Someone who is insanely in love with their imperfections and will do nothing, to change them. Someone who does not get shattered with the beauty standards set by the society. But how often do we get to see such valiant people? What if we tell you that we actually came across one such spirited soul who happens to be only 7-years-old?
Meet Shilah Madison, a 7-year-old kid who is battling with a very rare disorder named, ‘Uncombable Hair Syndrome.’
Uncombable hair syndrome is characterised by disorderly blonde or straw coloured hair which can not be combed flat. It stands out from the scalp and may become apparent from the age of 3 to 12 years.
Little Shilah is one of the 100 people in the world to have this rare disorder. But shattering most perceptions, Shilah is in love with her hair!
Shilah was born with regular brown hair. However, when she was about 3 months old, the family noticed a fizzy strawberry blonde hair bud, growing on her scalp. Right then, her hair started to grow unruly and when she turned two, the hair growth remained stagnant.
Like every innocent person, Shilah had to face hard times too. People often want to touch her hair and click her pictures. She has even been compared to Doc Brown from ‘Back To The Future’ or at times, even to Albert Einstein, but she has handled all that, it with complete sass!
The young gal, however, gave it back to her bullies with this ‘no-nonsense’ statement:
“It’s not ordinary and it’s not boring like everyone else’s. Everyone knows me and remembers me – especially at school. All the grade levels know who I am. I think my friends wish they had hair like mine.”
In an interview with Today.com, her mother Calvert Yin revealed how Shilah fell in love with her hair. She said,
“Shilah loves her unique hair, but that has come from constant positive reinforcement at home from friends and family, as a little girl she often told us she was like a unicorn as they are very special and unique just like her. It brought a tear to our eye.”
Shilah currently has her own account on Instagram with around 3,930 followers already. The aim behind having an Instagram account is to increase awareness about this rare disorder.
The young, miss pretty, wants to be a model to show people that it’s okay to be different.
Shilah’s family has also been very protective of her. Every time they would come across a hate comment or something that would hurt the little baby girl, they would keep Shilah away from them.
We salute Shilah’s spirit of being so daring and giving the world an example of bravery at such a young age. We all need to learn from this young one on how to love our imperfections and take a stand for what we truly are!