"I couldn’t wish for a better lad" Chesterfield boy, 11, who started losing his hair when he was aged just 3 runs two kilometres every day in September for alopecia charity

Shane Edwards started losing his hair when he was aged just three but was inspired to begin fundraising for Alopecia UK last summer after taking part in a park run.

The keen rugby player completed laps of Grassmoor County Park every day – even donning his running shoes after his first day at high school and in the non-stop rain on September 30.

Proud mum Claire Wilmot said Shane’s times fluctuated between 10 and 20 minutes, taking “spinning around goalposts” into account, however his personal best was nine minutes, 18 seconds.

She added: “He really struggled with the last one on September 30. But he had fun with it. There was one other day he found hard and that was after his first day at Tupton Hall, starting Year 7.”

Claire, 43, began noticing patches in Shane’s hair when he was three and the condition was linked at the time with chicken pox affecting his immune system.

The community support worker said: “It’s one of those where they say ‘yes, you’ve got alopecia, come back if you need us again’. Hence why Alopecia UK do so much fundraising for research.

"We were told that because it was so extreme, so young, it was very doubtful his hair would come back.”

Shane was first diagnosed with alopecia areata, where hair can grow back within a year, however his family believe it has developed into totalis – characterised by the loss of all hair on the head and face.

Claire said: “It was scary to start with but I saw it as him being fit and healthy – he’s one of the fittest and healthiest kids I’ve ever known.

“I’ve always said we’d rather people come up and ask him why he’s got no hair rather than stare at him. It was hard to start with but he’s fit and healthy and that’s the main thing we could ask for as parents.

"He doesn’t really remember having hair and he’s gone all the way through primary school as just being Shane. He’s great, the typical 11-year-old at times, but I couldn’t wish for a better lad.”

At the time of writing Shane had raised nearly £800 through his fundraising page, with nearly a hundred donations so far. Claire said: “We started with a target of £150 but I’ve had to raise the target twice, it was mind-blowing, it’s gone crazy.”

Anyone wishing to donate can do so by visiting this link: https://www.alopecia.org.uk/Fundraisers/shanes-fundraising-page-for-alopecia-uk?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1kEB2834o1tfOAsfSGqU6pqEqgYyylhQ7GqisoQ05WgbLyVQPM3_z9OC8_aem_HpPoMe9pO8PnEcEmm4MszA#commentText