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Dad Shaves Head To Cheer Up Daughter With Alopecia

Dad Shaves Head To Cheer Up Daughter With Alopecia

First-grader Riley Sylvaria told her dad that she didn't love herself because she has no hair, so he took matters into his own hands

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Even as an adult, losing your hair is certainly no picnic. So it's hard to imagine how difficult it must be for a little girl. Riley Sylvaria from Rhode Island, USA, suffers from alopecia - a condition which has left her completely bald. After she revealed to her parents how much her hair loss was getting to her, her Dad responded in the best way imaginable. Check out the video below.

Credit: Facebook / Chelsea Sylvaria

When little Riley revealed that she didn't love herself anymore because of her lack of hair, it was obviously upsetting for her mum Chelsea, 33, to hear.

Chelsea posted on Facebook: "I was a bit taken aback and said, 'What do you mean you don't love yourself?' To which she uttered my worst fear... 'I don't love myself because I don't have hair!'"

So, Chelsea told her husband Dave about the issue and he decided to resolve matters in his own way:

Credit: Facebook / Chelsea Sylvaria

Posting her message alongside the two videos, Chelsea continued: "Fast forward to later that night when we got home... Dave wanted to talk to her about what she had said... this was the result."

Dave cheered his daughter up by shaving his own head to show Riley that having hair isn't the be all and end all, and that actually, 'nobody cares about hair'.

"You shouldn't say things like that, kiddo," Dave says to Riley in the clip.

"You are a very special girl. Do you know how special you are? You're the most special girl in the whole world. Hair doesn't matter."

He continues: "You want daddy to shave his head? Want me to do it right now? Okay, let's go."

Credit: Facebook / Chelsea Sylvaria

In the second clip, the little girl's face light up as her dad drags the clippers over his head, above the bathroom sink. She even has a go at lopping a bit off herself.

"Do you want me to keep it like this?" Dave asks Riley once his hair is gone.

"I'll keep it just like this. You know why? Because it's just hair, kiddo. It doesn't matter. Nobody cares about hair."

The heart-warming video has been shared thousands of times and received tons of praise, even though Chelsea admits she was initially conflicted over whether to post it or not.

"We want her to know it's OK to sometimes get upset," Chelsea added, in a post shared by Love What Matters, "but that she is strong and beautiful - no matter what!"

Words: Paddy Maddison

Featured Image Credit: Facebook / Chelsea Sylvaria

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