A runner who has had alopecia since she was two had “flashbacks” to bullying in the school playground when a stranger said she looked like a “sick, ugly man” in her London Marathon race photo – but was then “overwhelmed” by thousands of messages of support after she posted a defiant tweet that went viral on social media.

Lindsay Walter, 32, a running coach and freelance writer from Charlotte in North Carolina, had a “very isolating and lonely” childhood as she was constantly bullied because of her alopecia – she was called “baldy” and “a man” and wore a wig “just to fit in” even though she “never really felt like (herself)” when wearing it.

Lindsay continued to feel this way until she finished university and began running marathons – for her, this was the turning point because, the more she ran, the more “comfortable” she felt in herself, and she decided to ditch the wig and stop “letting alopecia control” her.

On April 23 2023, she ticked the London Marathon off her “bucket list” and “was on an incredible runner’s high” until she tweeted a photo of her at the event and received a comment from a stranger saying she looked like a “sick, ugly man”, which brought back memories of her childhood bullies.

Lindsay began wearing a wig ‘to fit in’ when she was at school (Collect/PA Real Life)

Lindsay deleted the photo but then decided to repost it, to not let one comment bring her down, and her tweet has since gone viral – receiving more than 12,000 encouraging comments and 167,000 likes, which made her feel “so overwhelmed in the best way”.

“When that comment came through, I just felt such a gut punch just because, when people reference me as a male, it’s such a trigger for me – growing up, it’s the one thing kids would say that made me sad, and even now it’s hard for me,” she said.

“But, after reposting, the kindness from total strangers who just had nothing but positive and encouraging things to say is incredible.”

Lindsay found growing up with alopecia “very isolating and lonely” because she did not know anyone else with the disease, and she was relentlessly bullied – so, “just to fit in”, she wore a wig.

Lindsay has run 52 marathons in total, with the most recent being the London Marathon (Collect/PA Real Life)

She said: “It was really hard wearing a wig – I never really felt like myself, but I didn’t really know how to express that and how to deal with it.

“Kids were not nice – with alopecia, it’s not just the hair on your head, but also eyebrows and eyelashes, and not having that, I obviously look different.

“And so I was bullied and made fun of a lot for that – it was hard just because I never had the confidence to stand up, so I did allow kids to bully me.

“I felt like I deserved the things they used to say about me – they’d call me a baldy, ugly and a man, and I really felt that to be true.”

Lindsay wore a wig until the age of 22, after finishing university (Collect/PA Real Life)

Lindsay continued to wear a wig until she was 22, after she finished her time at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she studied health education from 2009 to 2013.

She said: “I kind of faced the reality that my hair is never coming back, and it’s just something that I need to take control over.

“A couple of years after college, in 2012, I started running marathons – the more I did that, the more I was just getting comfortable in myself.

“Having success in running and having an incredible outlet that I just loved helped.

Lindsay received a comment saying she looked like a ‘sick, ugly man’, which brought back memories of her childhood bullies (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I began taking control instead of letting my alopecia control me.”

Lindsay continued running and has completed 52 marathons to date – her most recent being the London Marathon on April 23 where she raised around 2,800 US dollars (£2,235) for Make A Wish.

She said: “I visited London last March and loved it – it’s such an incredible city and an incredible marathon.

“It was a bucket list marathon, and I just thought it’d be such an incredible experience.”

When Lindsay began running she became more comfortable in herself (Collect/PA Real Life)

After completing the marathon, Lindsay posted a photo of her running on her social media accounts but received a comment that was reminiscent of her childhood bullies – one user said she looked like a man.

She said: “I was on this incredible runner’s high, I was just so happy, and I never post race photos, but I loved how I looked, and the marathon made me so happy.

“When I saw the comment, I felt so defeated, and all these negative emotions, and had all these flashbacks.”

Lindsay deleted the photo straightaway, but decided to repost it, and in the tweet, she wrote: “I shared this photo earlier because I was so proud of my effort at the @LondonMarathon but then someone commented that ‘you look like a sick, ugly man’.

Lindsay had a ‘very isolating and lonely’ childhood as she was constantly bullied because of her alopecia (Collect/PA Real Life)

“In that moment I felt so defeated so deleted it. But now no. I am not letting the negativity of others win.”

To Lindsay’s surprise, she was flooded with some 12,000 positive comments and more than 167,000 likes supporting her positive attitude.

She explained how it feels to have such an encouraging response: “It feels unreal – honestly, I was not expecting that at all.

“I am so overwhelmed in the best way and just feel so encouraged.”

To anyone with alopecia who is struggling with negative comments, she said: “It’s OK to not be OK – not having hair and losing your hair takes such an emotional toll on you, and every day is not going to be great – your feelings are valid, you have feelings for a reason.

“I think it’s important to remember that there is an incredibly supportive community and so many people who will do anything to help you.”