Ballwin Teen Plans Race For Alopecia Imagine being 14 years old, in the middle of your freshman year in high school, and you notice a bald spot in your hair. You think your hat might be rubbing the wrong way, so you move it, but then another one pops up.
That's what happened to CJ Livesay two years ago. He'll be a senior in high school this fall, and he's been living with alopecia areata, the medical term for a patchy loss of hair.
"I just started wearing a hat from then on out, and pretty much 24/7 I've worn a hat," says CJ.
Four million men and women a year in this country suffer the embarrassment of this type of hair loss. Most of the cases happen within families known to have alopecia. No one in CJ's family has it. It affects men, women and children.
"The cause is unknown. We do know that the body's own immune cells start attacking the hair follicles for some unknown reason," says Dr. Helen Kim-James, a dermatologist with Chesterfield Valley Dermatology.
Steroid injections can help the hair re-grow. That's what worked for CJ. As he researched alopecia, he discovered the Tortoise and Hair Project that sponsors races to raise awareness for a national foundation
On Sunday August 3, he'll sponsor his version of the Tortoise and Hair 5-K race/walk to raise awareness. It's also his Eagle Scout project, and he needs 50 people to sign up for it to be successful.
I was very impressed with CJ's confidence and maturity when I met him for this story. He's going public with a diagnosis most adults wouldn't tell anyone about.
Here's a link to CJ's web site. You can register for the race here and help a young man who wants to be an Eagle Scout, but who already has the bravery of someone twice his age.
To register for the Tortoise and Hair race CJ's is organizing, visit the link on this web page, or call (314) 749-3909.
http://tortoiseandhair-stl.com/

Labels: alopecia, hair loss, race

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