She's been bald since she was 15 months old.
A Rhode Island dad wanted to make sure his little girl knows she's beautiful, no matter what.
After losing all of her hair at 15 months old, David and Chelsea Sylvaria’s 6-year-old daughter, Riley, was diagnosed with alopecia.
“She is usually fine with it,” Chelsea told InsideEdition.com. “Once in a while she does get upset.”
Recently, Riley had one of those moments, telling her mom she didn’t love herself because she didn’t have hair.
“As a parent, it’s heartbreaking to hear that," Chelsea Sylvaria told InsideEdition.com. "You want to give them everything. I told my husband about it. He pulled her into our room. He has always been so sweet and caring and always has the right thing to say to make her feel better.”
In a heartwarming video shared to Facebook, David Sylvaria tells Riley, “You are the most special girl in the world.”
He then asks her, “You want daddy to shave his head?” to which Riley happily responded, "Yes."
Riley looks on as he does so in their home bathroom, and even helps at some points. The smile on her face clearly shows how much the gesture means to her.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Chelsea Sylvaria said. “It’s really the type of man he is. As a wife and a mom I sat there with tears in my eyes watching it unfold. You could just tell her eyes just lit right up. She was so excited.”
She added that Riley is definitely “daddy’s little girl,” which made the moment all the more special.
“As parents we have struggled with this, but ultimately decided it is what it is. We really want her to know she is beautiful the way she is,” Sylvaria said. “We know she is going to get upset and we want her to know it’s okay, but what matters is we learn to love ourselves and we pick back up and keep going.”
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