Thaindian News

June 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Twenty-one year old Kayla Martell from Milford Delaware is a bright girl with a very bubbly personality and a terrific sense of self confidence, who has recently been crowned the new “Miss Delaware” and also just happens to be bald.

Martell suffers from an autoimmune disease which attacks the hair follicles which is known as alopecia. She has been bald for almost 10 years, but has never let that slow her down from chasing her dreams. She was crowned Miss Delaware on June 12 with the support of her family, friends, and a five year old girl named Lilliana Hakim, who suffers from the same condition.

Both Kayla and Lilliana made an appearance on this morning’s “The Early Show” to tell their stories to Erica Hill, co anchor for the show. Kayla shared that she began to lose her hair when she was ten years old. When she was a fifth grader, she noticed that the part in her hair was getting wider. She was diagnosed with alopecia when the bald spot continued to grow. She managed to keep her self confidence despite the hair loss, even through her teens.

“For me, I was just very confident in myself because of the great family and friends that I have. And, you know, I think I was a better person because of the faith that I had. It didn’t make me nervous to go out without the wig for any reason,” Kayla told Erica Hill on The Early Show.

But, she did falter for a moment, when she almost gave up on the Miss Delaware pageant. She shared with America that it was Lilliana who told her that she could not give up. “Do you remember what you said to me when I said I didn’t know if I wanted to come back to Miss Delaware?” coaxed Kayla. “Do you remember you told me that I was your Miss America and I had to keep trying, right?” Lilliana was too shy to answer, but smiled and nodded at Layla’s questions.

When Kayla was crowned, Lilliana and her sister were able to walk out onto the stage with her in her evening gown.