A teenager has shaved her head after witnessing how bullies treated her 13-year-old sister with alopecia.

Ocean Anderson, 18, of Foxglove Close, Witham, teamed up with the charity Fixers to raise awareness of the condition, after they held an assembly at her school, Maltings Academy.

The student shaved her hair off in solidarity with her sister, Azura, and made a campaign film to document her experience and support those struggling with their confidence.

She said: “I felt the treatment my little sister got was awful. She had a number of problems such as bullying or people coming up to ask if she has cancer.

“People would call her baldy and they think you can catch it, so they wouldn’t sit next to her.

“Alopecia is a disease that means you lose your hair. It is often caused because there are too many white blood cells being produced and they see hair as an illness.”

Braintree and Witham Times:

Alopecia is a medical condition causing chronic hair loss, due to the immune system trying to fight healthy hair cells.

Miss Anderson, who is studying sociology, product design and business and economics, said: “The effects aren’t just physical. It has mental and social effects as well. No child should suffer bullying because of the way they look. I want to change the way young people perceive appearance.

“I shaved my head because I wanted to show people that appearance doesn’t matter. It’s their personalities that count.

“People judge on what they see before they get to know something, and this shouldn’t be the case.

“I hope as many people see this as possible. I would tell people with alopecia to be strong. They aren’t alone. Those with alopecia are some of the bravest people I have ever met.”

Fixers aims to work with young people and provide them with resources to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about.