Kayla Martell, Bald Miss Delaware, Draws Inspiration From Young Alopecia Patient

Kayla Martell suffers from alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that causes baldness. So, you might be surprised that she just won Miss Delaware. She never would have been able to do it, she said, had she not been inspired by a five-year-old who suffers from the same condition.

Martell understands what it's like to lose her hair as a child. Her part widened when she was 10 years old and from that point on people looked at her differently. She competed without a wig several times, and finally won Miss Delaware after wearing a blonde wig, fearful that people wouldn't want to approach her if she was bald.

She frequently volunteers in children's hospitals and has been praised by Americorps.

WATCH:

Comments

[KJLSanDiego]

01:57 AM on 07/01/2010

she is beautiful inside and out, hair or none!

[sjones07]

09:47 AM on 06/29/2010

I've known Kayla for a couple years now and she is a beautiful woman inside and out. The wig was custom made for her. They made it the same length and color her hair was when it started to fall out at age 10. She is truly an inspiration. She doesn't just do beauty pageants. This young woman is the founder of Caps for Yaps (Caps for Youth Alopecia Patients). This organization has collected more than 2,000 hats and scarves for the young ones affected by the disease. Not only that, but she was also a recipient of a TOYA award this year! She just recently got a wig at the end of 2008. Before then, she had NEVER worn a wig and is very comfortable without one. So what if she wants to wear a wig...She is a wonderful person.

[KJLSanDiego]

02:04 AM on 07/01/2010

my cousin has alopecia, and it is really hard, because the scalp gets affected too! It can be very painful, but ovation cell therapy works for some. I have a very mild form, with really thin hair and a few not really noticeable spots, but i would never try to compare to this young woman.

[omeo2013]

06:57 AM on 06/29/2010

WTF Ever. She didn't win that pageant bald; she did it with a wig. This story would be interesting if she were actually bald during the pageant, but she put on a wig. She didn't win IN SPITE OF her her condition; she hid her condition. Let's not pretend this is a beautiful story of someone overcoming some kind of disfigurement, okay? She presented herself as a normal person. Every last one of you knows she never would've won that pageant in a million years if she'd gone out there without the wig. Please.

[matterdon]

04:18 PM on 06/30/2010

She hid nothing - you are ill-informed. Every judge there knew she had no hair and that her platform was the "National Alopecia Areata Foundation". Do your homework before you spew your negative rhetoric. Do yourself a favor and learn more about alopecia areata.

[omeo2013]

06:55 PM on 06/30/2010

Knowing that she was bald doesn't change what the judges saw with their eyes. If a beautiful woman with a wig on told me she was bald, I wouldn't care because that knowledge doesn't interfere with the image I see before me. Now, if she took the wig off, my image of her would change. I stand by my statement. The fact is, if she'd gone to the pageant with no wig - just a shiny bald head - she never would've won in a million years. All that great stuff about her platform has absolutely nothing to do with her aesthetic appeal, which is what pageants are primarily about.

[KJLSanDiego]

01:58 AM on 07/01/2010

wow, you are really intense!

[omeo2013]

02:52 AM on 07/01/2010

Well, again, I was expecting a different story when I read the headline. I thought this woman had won the pageant with no hair on her head, but that's not really what happened. That would've been an interesting story, but I was disappointed to read that she wasn't quite bald during the pageant; she wore a wig the whole time. Of COURSE she stands a chance with a wig on, but I thought the judges had decided this woman was so beautiful WITHOUT hair that she deserved to win. That's not what happened. I think the headline misrepresented the facts.

[fortyfiveseventy]

03:00 AM on 06/29/2010

Too bad. Such a beautiful girl.

[KIVPossum]

02:59 AM on 06/29/2010

Wonderful story. She's as beautiful inside as out.

[mathme]

02:15 AM on 06/29/2010

Wow, she can pull off the no hair look very well. She looks better without the generic looking "pretty blond" wig!

[RachelMc]

10:44 PM on 06/28/2010

awww @ lilly! she is soo shy. hee hee.

[Caribbeana]

09:47 AM on 06/30/2010

Why did someone flag your posts as abusive????

[RachelMc]

10:04 AM on 06/30/2010

because i said at least she could just wear a full lace and call it a day.

[matterdon]

04:19 PM on 06/30/2010

She loved being on t.v., didn't like the whole mic-thing and after Kayla talked for her a few times, she figured what the heck, she can keep talking.

[RachelMc]

10:42 PM on 06/28/2010

smh...at least one can put on a full lace and call it a day.

[hottingers]

09:40 PM on 06/28/2010

Better a wig you need than fake bo obs you don't.

[omeo2013]

07:02 AM on 06/29/2010

What exactly is the difference, there? Why does someone "need" fake hair, but not fake boobs? Both are aesthetic enhancements done to please the eye of the beholder. If we're all going to subscribe to the idea that inner beauty is more important, then she shouldn't need fake boobs OR fake hair. If inner beauty is more important, she should be able to win that pageant with one arm, one leg, no boobs, no hair, and a face full of scar tissue.

[madskillzdotcom316]

08:54 PM on 06/28/2010

She's a very beautiful woman, without the wig. And Ms. Delaware and the kid are cute too ;)

[RachelMc]

10:45 PM on 06/28/2010

yeah she does look good without the wig too. too bad all of us dont have the face for it tho. i'd look like a little boy with implants.

[mathme]

04:22 PM on 06/29/2010

Yeah, some ladies can really do the short/no hair thing. I have a friend that i met because i had a big crush on her. She had really short blond hair and I absolutely dug it. After I got to know her, I saw some pictures from a year or two earlier when she had long (at least shoulder-length) hair and it did NOT look good. And I don't mean a, "wow! you look different!" sort of way, it completely changed the way her face looked and everything. Then there are people who are the opposite; some styles compliment facial and body structures and others clash.

[madskillzdotcom316]

07:55 PM on 06/29/2010

I don't know, Rachel. I have a friend who has very short hair. At first, I didn't think she was all that, but after looking at her, I realized she was absolutely smashing. I know I got hit on by folks - guys and girls - when I had a 'Fro. I had to cut it. I do miss my hair.

I think when a woman cuts her hair that short, on purpose, she could care less what a man thinks anyhow. Fortunately, there's always Photoshop to test the waters before we whack our hair off, huh?

[matterdon]

04:20 PM on 06/30/2010

The little girl - Her name is Lilliana and she is awesome!

[WhateverFloatsYerBoat]

08:29 PM on 06/28/2010

sweet story, but I wish we'd just get rid of beauty pageants altogether. It's so 1950's.

[Martha57]

08:25 PM on 06/28/2010

Now this is true beauty, on the outside and inside!

[Waiting4Hope]

08:08 PM on 06/28/2010

Bald chicks are hot.
I wish more girls would shave their heads.

[alienator]

12:35 AM on 06/29/2010

agreed and fanned

[Blitzkrieg Barbie]

01:10 PM on 06/29/2010

My hair is starting to thin because of this horrible medication I'm on and I keep wondering if I'm going to go bald. It's nice to see that some people aren't repulsed by a woman with a shaved head unless ya'll are being sarcastic.

[PrimeTimeMom]

08:02 PM on 06/28/2010

Miss Delaware for the win! She is a wonderful role model and so well spoken. Absolutely a breath of fresh air on the pageant scene..

[planetjeffy]

07:45 PM on 06/28/2010

Cute kid - bald and mute

[matterdon]

04:22 PM on 06/30/2010

Let's see what you would do on national television you tool. And she is so cute, it's ridiculous. There should be a law out for being that cute!!!!