By Huey Freeman
Herald & Review
DECATUR, Ill. — Five-year-old Cassie Pope lost her hair, so some of the people who work with her daddy lost theirs, too.
Thirty members of the law enforcement community had their heads shaved at the Macon County sheriff’s headquarters Monday to show their support for Cassie and inform the public about her condition.
Cassie, daughter of sheriff’s detective Dale Pope, was stricken with an autoimmune disease, alopecia, which attacks a victim’s hair follicles.
In her case, it started out with some bald patches in November, but as the losses progressed, Cassie’s parents decided it was preferable to shave the remaining tufts.
“There’s an assumption that she’s battling cancer, which we’re very thankful that she’s not,” said Lisa Pope, an MRI technician at Decatur Memorial Hospital.
The Popes also have two other children: Cassie’s twin sister, Carlie, and 8-year-old brother, Connor.
Carlie is growing her hair out in to donate it later to a child who is suffering from hair loss. Connor had his head shaved alongside the officers.
“I’m glad I look like Cassie,” Connor said.
Cassie was asked why she chose not to wear a wig or hat to cover her bald head.
“Because I want to show people,” said Cassie, who thoroughly enjoyed watching dozens of people being transformed into the spitting image of herself.
“We want people to know that just because someone looks different they are still normal,” Cassie’s mother said. “They don’t need to be treated differently. We are very happy and blessed that Cassie can walk, talk, see, hear and play like any 5-year-old girl.”
Lisa Pope posted Cassie’s story on Facebook on July 12 because she wanted everyone who came in contact with her to treat her just like any other child.
“Many children have struggles,” Lisa Pope said. “Cassie just doesn’t have hair.”
When deputy T.W. Houk read her post, he thought of how much being bald would affect any girl. He sent out an email to everyone in the sheriff’s office, suggesting they all get together “to shave our heads for Cassie.”
He was overwhelmed by the immediate response, a chorus of messages saying the same thing: “I’m in.”
Within a short time, the request for hairlessness was answered by employees from several sheriff’s departments, as well as the Decatur police and the county’s Emergency Management Agency.
“It shows how close everyone is in law enforcement in the community,” Houk said.
Dale Pope, a law enforcement officer since 2001, said his family was taken aback when they realized that the sheriff’s office was poised to have a public event involving many people, with possible media involvement, if the family approved of it.
“We didn’t necessarily want all the attention,” Dale Pope said. “It’s a nonlife-threatening disease, but it’s a great opportunity to show Cassie support and educate the public about what alopecia is.”
He said the family does not mind the looks that people throw their way because of Cassie’s baldness, because it is normal to take note of a child who appears to be different.
“Once they understand alopecia, they won’t be so quick to judge what it might be,” Dale Pope said. “Because we judge what we don’t know.”
Lisa Pope said her daughter has alopecia areata, a condition in which hair loss occurs in patches but is not total. Her prognosis is uncertain.
“She could grow it all back,” she said. “She could grow it, then lose it again. She could lose all the hair on her body including her eyelashes and eyebrows.”
The disease affects more than 6 million people nationwide, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
A concern for her daughter is that she will be able to develop a positive self-image, despite her appearance.
“A girl without hair is not our society’s standard,” Lisa Pope said. “Our society focuses on looks. It’s hard as a girl and as a twin not to not be able to control something. For a girl, hair is so important.”
The support from the law enforcement community has been amazing, she said.
“It’s definitely special to be part of this family, that they took a personal family issue and took it that they needed to show us their support,” Lisa Pope said.
Sheriff’s Lt. Jamie Belcher, who took his turn in the barber’s chair, said everyone came into the department’s training room Monday “to show support for this wonderful, courageous little girl.”
He said he hopes that the outpouring of concern for Cassie will show her that all officers are her friends, because they are getting their heads shaved for her.
“Children at this age could be confused,” Belcher said. “They could resort to bullying or making fun of people.”
He hopes this will help her to build inner strength, to know that real beauty lies within.
Sheriff Thomas Schneider, who had his head shaved for the second time in his life, said it is important for Cassie to realize “it is just hair” and that she is accepted just the way she is.
“It’s feeling refreshed,” he said of his newly scraped scalp.
Schneider said he appreciated the five barbers who donated their services for the cause.
“We’re very happy to do it,” said Brandon Lockhart, owner of Lockhart’s Barber Shops of Decatur and Mount Zion. He brought along barbers Matthew Mitchell-Cupp, Matthew Mitchell-Cupp and Michael Long, a student at Lockhart’s Barber College.
Barry Altevogt, owner of Don’s Barber Shop, Mount Zion, was shaving some familiar heads. He formerly served as a correctional officer for the sheriff’s office.
“I was more than glad to come out and support them,” he said.
Copyright 2015 the Herald & Review