CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — The family of an 8-year-old suburban Atlanta girl are horrified that relentless bullies pulled the girl’s hair so hard that they ripped her scalp out.
Dorris Bearden said her granddaughter’s hair was pulled so hard that her scalp ripped and she had to be rushed to the emergency room. She may never grow hair in that affected area and may need skin grafts to rectify the area of the girl’s head.
“They kept pulling it and pulling it, especially on the playground,” said third-grader Aolani Dunbar. “Everybody got a chance, and I was in the gazebo sitting there crying because I have no friends to play with that will protect me.”
Now, there is a gaping wound on the crown of Dunbar’s scalp, and her head was shaved bald to avoid infection.
Dunlap’s schoolmates picked on her for two straight weeks, the family says, because — and get this — she the audacity to purchase hair extensions. Bearden told the media that Aolani wanted long hair so she could brush it like the other girls, according to WSBTV in Atlanta.
“She steps in the door of that school and the first thing they do is attack her and start ripping her hair out,” said Bearden.
In addition to the probable permanent scar on her head, Aolani’s family told Willis that the girl may have suffered lifelong psychological damage as well. The grandmother told the press that her granddaughter has symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, and that may have kept her from confiding in an adult earlier.
Bearden said she reported incidents to the principal as soon as she discovered the injury.
“When I saw just the horror of it, I just started to cry,” said Bearden. “I cried as I unbraided her hair and the hair fell out in my hands.”
The grandmother is outraged that one child received an in-school suspension, suggesting that such a light sentence for a horrid case of abuse of a classmate may embolden others.
Doctors said the little girl may never grow hair on the injured part of her scalp again and may need skin grafts, according to Bearden.
Aolani’s mother and even strangers who learned of the story on Facebook have shaved their heads so she doesn’t feel alone.
The family of the schoolgirl are seeking donations of hair so they can provide for her daughter as well as Locks of Love. They want to make a wig for Aolani and other children in need.
“It’s not only a temporary effect,” said Bearden. “It’s something that could scar for life.”
