When you are 8-years-old, your biggest stress in life should be getting your homework done. The last thing you should have to deal with is a medical condition that can take away both your self-confidence and your hair.

Some cases of hair loss are due to an immune disorder, Alopecia areata. When you have it, your body attacks healthy hair follicles. It leads to baldness, either in spots or across the entire head and body.

Each case of alopecia will have its own issues. In some cases, the hair will grow back and fall out over and over again. At other times, it may grow back for good or it could stay gone. Unfortunately, it can affect people, even when they are young.

Luke Nelson is an 8-year-old boy from Edmond, Oklahoma. He was happy and healthy but one day, his mom noticed something. A small patch of hair fell out of his eyebrow and within 8 weeks, he had lost all hair on one side of his head.

“By Christmastime, he had completely lost all of his hair.”

Susan, his mother wanted to do all she could to make him feel better so she shaved her head. His little brother, Sam, also shaved his head.

“He immediately shaved his head. Then my husband shaved his head. So we made it a family affair.”

Luke constantly was wearing a ball cap to hide the issue. His mother admitted that he was embarrassed.

“For a little 8-year-old boy to lose his hair, of course, it was hard and it was very difficult.”

He was on winter break when his classmates came up with a plan to support their little friend. When they all came back to school, they talked to Susan to see what they could do.

“They really asked the questions like what could we do to really help Luke and make him happy. Once [Luke] found out that all of his buddies wanted to surround him like a band of brothers and shave their heads as well, he just embraced it.”

The boys in his class and their parents went to Sports Clips Haircuts to have their heads shaved.

“This is what friends are for. Beyond thankful for these boys (and their parents!) who decided to go bald with Luke. I mean c’mon does it get any better than this?!”

Someone even brought donuts so it was more of a party.

“There was belly laughter, and kids were giving each other high fives. As soon as the haircuts started Luke ripped off his hat and he has walked around with this confidence and this swagger.”

This really meant a lot to Luke and his family. They even described it as being ‘life-changing’.

“There was belly laughter, and kids were giving each other high fives. As soon as the haircuts started Luke ripped off his hat and he has walked around with this confidence and this swagger.”

This gave them the opportunity to explain alopecia to everyone.

“It made me feel very good. I feel more confident. I can just be myself. I think it’s important to share my story to help all those other kids that feel different.”

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