A mother of four from Hatfield is hoping to buy a quality wig for her wedding day, after having to shave all her hair off due to her recent alopecia diagnosis.
Kim Nicholson was set to get married to her partner on January 9 this year, but due to the lockdown the wedding was rescheduled on two occasions back to October.
However, on the planned day in January they still decided to commemorate the date by dancing to their first dance song.
Kim said: "He put it on in the living room, he came in and as he went to take my hand he went 'hang on a minute Kim, stay there, don't panic'."
Quickly Kim's partner Jay went and got his phone and that's when they found the first bald patch.
Two weeks later Kim decided to shave her hair after a dozen bald patches began appearing.
She had been having problems with her hair beforehand but couldn't find the time to sort it out properly while looking after four children.
The stress of having to reschedule a wedding twice, all while homeschooling children may have been the cause of Kim's alopecia.
"The hair loss was getting worse so I made the hard decision to shave all my hair off," said Kim.
"I had to really, particularly as it was really affecting one of my girls. She was seeing my hair fall out and the patches appearing.
"It felt like a jail sentence, I thought I can't just sit here and wait to see what happens."
The patches were completely bald with no hair follicles on them, though it is possible they may begin to grow again.
Kim added: "I certainly didn't think at 38 years old I was going to have no hair I'm not going to lie.
"It's been a hard journey, it's very strange. I've bought a couple of wigs just to try out, but real hair wigs you are looking at £600 plus.
"I wouldn't normally care, but just for that one day of the year I get married I don't want people seeing my alopecia. I want them to look at me and see a beautiful bride getting married.
"I don't want to be ashamed, I want to show my girls whatever we face in life, we need to be strong and face it head on. We need to be proud we don't need to go around ashamed."
A fundraising page was set up by friend Liz Pullman, so Kim can buy a wig for the wedding, for which she wants an up style hairdo.
If you would like to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/help-kim-buy-her-dream-wig
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