Jada Pinkett Smith Emotional After Learning the Death of Young Alopecia Patient
Jada Pinkett Smith expressed her sympathy to a mother who lost her child who had alopecia.
Long before the Oscars 2022 blunder happened, Pinkett Smith has been open about suffering from alopecia areata, which had already caused her to lose much of her hair.
As she knows how hard it is to be diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, she expressed her sadness and heartbreak to a mother of a young girl with the same health issue who died by suicide.
In a clip of the upcoming episode of Pinkett Smith's Facebook Watch show, "Red Table Talk" (obtained by People), the 50-year-old actress talked to Niki Ball, 12-year-old Rio's mother.
According to the matriarch, she lost her child after Rio died by suicide due to the extreme bullying she suffered because of her alopecia.
Ball told Pinkett Smith that the bullying was so extreme that Rio got smacked on the head by other students and received derogatory nicknames like "naked mole rat." Although she wore a wig to hide her condition, other students also ripped it off her head.
Due to the struggles that she went through, she claimed her life on March 14.
The mother also revealed that Rio developed alopecia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and her hair started falling out by then.
"She was so strong. She still rocked it even when it was falling out, and she just had these big bald patches. [She] tried the creams. They made her break out. Tried the injections - she took five of them in one day. But neither of them really did anything," Ball said.
Mother Tried Saving Alopecia-Stricken Child
During the same discussion, Ball said they decided to shave Rio's head as none of the remedies seemed to be working. Still, she recalled seeing her child glow even more.
Rio then excitedly wore a wig as she headed back to school since she looked better and glowing. But everything changed when the classes began.
"Within a couple of weeks, she was like, 'I don't want to wear it anymore; there's no point. 'She had it ripped off her head," Ball recalled.
Three weeks before her death, Ball told Pinkett Smith that her daughter had a really bad day when she picked her up from the class.
While listening to Ball, Pinkett Smith clearly sobbed and told the viewers that it is the reason why everyone should understand the condition.
