Bald & Beautiful

Newly-crowned Miss Delaware Kayla Martell isn't your average beauty queen. The bright and bubbly 21-year old Milford native suffers from an autoimmune disease called alopecia, which attacks hair follicles.

Martell has been bald nearly ten years, but she hasn't let that stop her from going for her dreams. After five years, she was crowned Miss Delaware on June 12, and her biggest was inspiration, a five-year-old girl named Lilliana Hakim, who suffers from the same disease.

Kayla began losing her hair at the age of ten. In fifth grade, she noticed that her part was widening, and when the bald spot kept growing, she was diagnosed with alopecia. But she handled it with grace, especially through her adolescent years. "For me, I was just very confident in myself because of the great family and friends that I have. And, you know, I think I was a better person because of the faith that I had. It didn't make me nervous to go out without the wig for any reason," Kayla said.

But she still wears a wig sometimes, because she feels more approachable that way.
"I think I can be a better Miss Delaware and Miss America by taking the wig off, because it shows people the initial reaction that I am healthy and I'm fine. All we do is we lose our hair, right?" Kayla asked rhetorically.

Inspirational

With hair..........