# @yahoolifestyle on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr_LRqRrakz
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/12303223-yahoolifestyle-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/4f9f559df6.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-05-08T15:26:06.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Yahoo Life (@yahoolifestyle) — https://gondola.cc/yahoolifestyle

## Caption

Marathon runner Lindsay Walter typically doesn't buy photos of herself crossing the finish line after a race. But at the #LondonMarathon on April 23, she finally saw a photo of herself that she was proud of — so much so that she posted it on Twitter! When someone commented to say that she looked like a "sick, ugly man," she was overcome with shame and brought her right back to the feeling of being bullied as a child. “When I was a kid, the one thing that was the biggest trigger and ultimate gut punch was when someone would call me a boy," says the 32-year-old, who struggles with hair loss on her scalp and body because of an autoimmune condition called #alopeciauniversalis.

She deleted the photo from Twitter and went for a run to think about her reaction. During that jog, she decided, "I'm not letting negativity win, I'm standing up for myself."

So she reposted her photo with a message about how much she loved the it. Her message of positivity made the tweet go viral.

"Just standing up in such a graceful and positive way, is just, that's just my personality and who I am. So just reposting that, I just felt so proud of myself," Walter says. "The response to it was mind-blowing and overwhelming. I was not expecting any of that. But like 99.9% of people were so kind and encouraging. And it just made me feel like everything in my life that had been negative with alopecia is just blown away by how kind everyone was."

Walter hopes to be a bright light in other peoples's journeys with alopecia through her work with the community and by continuing to show up authentically online.

Link in bio for Walter’s message for kids with #alopecia.

✏️: Yahoo Life
📷: Lindsay Walter

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 111
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- **Comments:** 10

## Tags

alopeciauniversalis, alopecia, londonmarathon

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