Waking up to find patches of your hair falling out would be jarring to anybody. When the person experiencing hair loss is a fourth-grade girl, who would be completely bald by the time she entered fifth grade, it was traumatic and confusing.
This was the scenario Hannah Weas faced. Now a senior at Wayzata High School, Weas remains completely bald. She is living with alopecia areata, a little-known autoimmune disease that affects approximately 147 million people worldwide and more than 6.6 million people in the United States, according to the Areata Foundation.
“Most people think I have cancer,” Weas says, citing the common association of baldness with chemotherapy treatment.
Alopecia is not cancer. It simply causes hair loss. Weas runs track and cross-country. She’s a synchronized swimmer. She skis in the winter. She’s a healthy, active high school senior who plans to pursue journalism in college. She just doesn’t have hair.
Neither Weas nor anyone in her family had heard of alopecia before she was diagnosed. “I was looking at everything online,” Weas says. “I was in fourth grade and had no idea what this was.”
“It was shocking,” says Pat Weas, Hannah’s father. “It’s not life-threatening, and she’s perfectly healthy, so then you say this is no different than any other physical challenge. It’s kind of cliché, but these challenges build character, and it’s helped everyone in our family and family circle focus on what’s important.”
Even though it isn’t a life-threatening condition, alopecia can certainly cause issues with self-esteem and other psychological concerns, especially in younger patients. Hannah Weas was able to avoid any major social struggles by joining sports teams and building normal friendships with her classmates; they focused on what she had to offer instead of what was missing.
“I focused on building my character and my identity in things that I did instead of focusing on my hair or outer beauty,” Weas says.
Having overcome the stigma associated with alopecia, Weas wanted to give back. As an avid runner, she and her parents started the HairtoThere 5k walk and run in April 2014 to raise money and awareness for alopecia.
Weas took the lead in planning the race, and her parents helped with the logistics of putting together the event. The grassroots effort included online marketing through their website and Facebook page, and handing out fliers around the Twin Cities. They set a goal to get 200 attendees and raise $5,000 for alopecia research. More than 700 people showed up and they raised $29,000.
People came from all over the region. One little girl even traveled with her family from Indiana to attend. The support was beyond anything the family ever expected. “I was standing in Starbucks a week before the race and this lady came up to me and took off her wig and said, ‘I’m coming to your race!’” says Weas.
This year’s race will be the second of what the Weas family hopes will be an annual tradition. They’d like to hand the planning reins to others in the alopecia community for future races with Hannah heading to college in the fall, but it’s something they will always be part of.
After its success last year, Hannah Weas and her parents are hoping to get 800 participants and raise $30,000. With all that Weas has achieved, it’s likely she’ll reach her goal.
HairtoThere 5K:
April 18
8 a.m.
Cost: $30 (with t-shirt), $25 (entry online), $35 (race-day registration)
Wayzata Public Works Building, 299 Wayzata Blvd. W.
For more information and to register, visit hairtothere.info.
