By Dana Klosner-Wehner
“It fell out when I took a bath,” said Quiroga, a Girl Scout, and a fifth grader at Alden Terrace Elementary School.
“It started in January,” she said. In two or three months, all her hair fell out, leaving her completely bald. Her eyebrows fell out, too.
It turns out Quiroga is suffering from Alopecia, a condition in which hair is lost from areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Because it causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called spot baldness. In one to two percent of cases the condition can spread to the entire scalp.
Once she knew what was causing the hair loss, she was no longer afraid. “We went to the doctor and they sent me to a dermatologist,” Quiroga said. “She explained what it was.”
Quiroga wears hats and bandanas and even has a synthetic wig that she wears. “I don’t feel bad,” she said.
Her scout leader, Clara Camal, saw something on the Tyra Banks show that immediately sparked her interest. She saw a way she could help Quiroga. Peggy Knight, of Peggy Knight Solutions based in Sausalito, Calif., was on the show. Knight, an alopecia sufferer herself, makes prosthetic wigs from real hair, that are vacuum sealed to a person’s head.
“Every hair is individually inserted into the wig,” Knight said. The wig is made from a mold of the person’s head. “You put it on like a tupperware, you burp it and get all the air out.” This wig won’t come off, you can go swimming, you can perm it, you can highlight it, Knight said.
“It stays put on your head and it looks natural,” Knight added.
Knight has suffered from Alopecia for 45 years. “I was 14 when I lost my hair,” she said. “For 20 years I wore every kind of hairpiece. With most wigs you are fearful that it’ll fall off your head.”
Knight couldn’t find a wig that made her feel comfortable and even had hair surgically inserted into her head, which ended up causing infections.
“I said if I can’t find it I’ll create it,” Knight said. So 25 years ago she founded Peggy Knight Solutions.
But, prosthetic wigs are expensive. Her wigs cost about $3,500. Knight told Camal that if she held a fundraiser, she would donate some of the cost of the wig.
So Camal and fellow Girl Scout Troop leader Marie Taylor rallied Girl Scout Troops 1527 and 1093 and held a fundraiser at New Hope Lutheran Church in Valley Stream on Aug. 23. They had a tag sale and a bake sale and raised $1,500.
State Assemblyman Thomas Alfano, who has worked with the troop in the past, dropped by the bazaar to support his friend Quiroga and all the scouts working the fundraiser.
“Andrea is a very special girl who lights up a room with her smile,” Alfano said. “When I heard about the fundraiser, I wanted to be there for her and her family. It was so heartening to see all these girls working together for their friend. It’s what makes the Elmont and North Valley Stream Community so special.”
Quiroga and her whole Girl Scout troop went to meet Knight in her hotel suite when she was in Manhattan. That’s when Knight took a mold of her head.
“It was thrilling and exciting for me to be there,” Knight said. “I was a Girl Scout. The girls were so excited about it. I think it’s great that they are learning as young women how to give.”
The wig will last up to five years, Knight said. It’ll grow with Quiroga as she grows. “In about a year and a half we’ll take another mold of Andrea’s head,” Knight said. “Then we will enlarge the wig.”
Quiroga takes it all in stride. “It’s OK,” she said. “It’s just normal.”
The group is still accepting donations. If you would like to donate to the effort for Andrea please mail donations to New Hope Lutheran Church at 60 Oliver Ave., North Valley Stream, NY 11580.
