Ashford hairdresser says hairloss shouldn't be shameful

Hediye Garcia had alopecia for six months and now supports others facing the same.

Transcript

00:00 Hedia's been cutting and styling hair for around 16 years now, but this all changed

00:08 when she was diagnosed with two different types of alopecia a couple of years ago.

00:13 For around six months, her hair was falling out in clumps at the back of her head, thought

00:18 to be mostly stress-induced.

00:19 "I lost quite a bit at the back, and I'd probably say it was about the size of my palm, the

00:25 amount that I lost, and it really knocked my confidence. I had a lot of anxiety at the

00:31 time, and I really just convinced myself that I needed a wig. I decided that I was going

00:40 to give it a try to make my own wig. The passion just went on from there, really."

00:45 Since this, she's transformed her Ashford salon and now particularly focuses on supporting

00:50 those going through alopecia, cancer or other experiences of hair loss.

00:55 "These consultations are a chance for clients to talk through their needs with Hedia and

00:59 decide together what sort of wig is the best for them."

01:03 Joy was diagnosed with breast cancer in August last year. One of her hobbies and a huge part

01:09 of her day-to-day life is dressing up in vintage wear and going to many events. So losing her

01:14 hair, she felt she also lost part of her identity.

01:18 "I decided at the very beginning I was just going to brave the shave once my hair started

01:23 to fall out in handfuls, which was after the first chemo. It was about two weeks afterwards.

01:28 My scalp became incredibly painful, and it was just soul-destroying. Every time I went

01:34 in the shower, it would just be coming out in clumps. I was coming to the end of chemo

01:39 where I was in a safe environment where other people have no hair and it's okay, to then

01:44 suddenly having the realisation that I was going to have to go back to work after my

01:47 operation and being in the public eye just suddenly made me start to panic and overthink

01:53 everything. So that's when I made the decision to Google and see if I could find someone

01:56 that could help me, and that's when I found Hedia."

02:00 Through this, Hedia hopes to raise awareness of what it's like experiencing hair loss,

02:04 as it's estimated to currently be impacting around 15 million across the UK.

02:10 "Your hair is the crown that you never take off, so it is that cliche saying, but it's

02:16 something that everybody thinks about before their job interview, on their wedding day,

02:22 looking in the mirror before they go to work, etc. It is a very important factor in everybody's

02:29 lives, whether you realise it or not, and you probably don't realise it until it has

02:35 gone or you are losing it, how important it is in the first place."

02:40 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Ashford.