Lyla Grace Barlow’s uncontrollable blonde locks meant mornings would often end in tears as her mom, Alex, desperately tried to tame them into ponytails or bunches.
The nine-year-old has suffered with Uncombable Hair Syndrome since she was one, which creates an uncontrollable fizz that can’t be combed flat, mirror.co.uk reported.
Alex and her husband Mark, from Derby, tried endless products to try and untangle Lyla Grace’s knotty locks but to no avail, and the couple were heartbroken when their little girl started to compare her to her sisters’.
Lyla Grace was officially diagnosed when she was five after a spell in hospital for Glandular Fever and medics admitted that they’d never seen hair like it.
Alex said: “Lyla Grace’s hair started growing and her baby hair was just like fluff.
“I thought it was amazing but I had a feeling something was wrong.
“People said it was just baby hair but her sister is 20 months older than her so I knew it wasn’t normal.
“We had a graph of different types of hair and we couldn’t find hers on there.
“It was just fluff, like candy floss.
“It grew quite quick and until she was about four it was very short then it started growing into dreadlocks and it was really hard to manage.
“We used lots of products to try and get a comb through it but nothing worked.
“It was painful for her when I tried to brush it and it used to stand on end.
“Lyla Grace had so many illnesses when she was younger and she was in hospital a lot so the doctors were always trying to work out what was wrong with her hair.
“We thought it could have been a vitamin deficiency.
“Her doctor said he hadn’t seen hair like it in 25 years.
“It’s caused by heart shaped follicles, a normal person has round or oval shaped follicles.”
Despite the painful mornings and attempts to brush her hair, Lyla Grace grew to love her fluffy frizz which has made her famous at school.
Alex said: “She really embraces her hair and the kids at school love it.
“All the older kids ask to feel it so she’s been really lucky.
“We’ve raised her to be proud of her hair and be happy with who she is.
“As long as she goes out with that attitude, she’ll be fine.
“She was desperate for Mary-Jean to have the same hair but there’s a one in four chance that if you’ve got the faulty gene that your child will have it.
“She did compare it to her sister’s hair because they always looked different but she loves her hair now.”
However, Alex has revealed how Lyla Grace’s bushy mane has started to tame and the pair are finally able to brush and even plait it, making life easier for both of them.
The mom-of-four said: “It’s so much easier to brush and she’s a lot happier with it now.
“We can plait it and tie it up and when it’s tied up you can barely tell she’s got the condition.
“She loves her hair now.
“People used to say she looks like Albert Einstein and she used to compare it to her sister’s hair because it would stand on end but now it’s really long and loads easier to manage.