Karen Dempsey

Yeah, I think it definitely has changed me in ways that I probably won't ever really fully know.

I think before I had alopecia, I had full head of lovely, shiny, dark hair.

And I used to be an Aer Lingus cabin crew.

So, you know, we were our hair was the updos were all a big fancy thing.

And I used to love a good updo.

But I had all the privileges that came with that, you know, of alopecia.

At the time, I mean, I was in my 20s when I got alopecia, so I had youth.

I was standardly good looking, I suppose.

I said that with a typical Irish, like, oh, I can't really say that about myself.

Young, beautiful, gorgeous, long, dark hair.

I had all that, all the trappings of it, yeah.

And then when your hair falls out, it is incredibly hard to explain how profound the change is.

Because when I passed a mirror then and looked at myself, I just didn't recognize myself.

And I had freckles.

I've always had freckles.

My skin was so white from my scalp back.

And it's a really, really deeply profound adjustment when all your hair falls out.

So I had bought a wig and I remember it was so expensive.

It was like 795 euros at the time, which was insane money.

And I put it on a credit card.