A Georgia mother is spreading awareness about a super-rare condition called ‘uncombable hair syndrome,’ which causes her own son’s unruly hair to grow out in all directions — and makes it impossible to comb down.
Katelyn Samples, 33, from Atlanta, Georgia, says that when her 17-month-old Locklan’s hair started to grow in at around five months old, she and her husband, Caleb, 33, thought the odd texture was just a sign that it would be curly.
Later they got Locklan checked out by a specialist — and learned that he is among only about 100 reported cases in the world with uncombable hair syndrome.
It’s certainly a rare genetic condition, which causes a structural anomaly of the hair that causes it to grow in all directions and makes it impossible to brush down or flatten.
Only about 100 cases of the syndrome have reported in the world, though there may be more unreported cases, and it usually affects children between the ages of three months to three years.
‘We were like, huh, what is this?’ Katelyn told People. ‘We knew it was different but didn’t know exactly how. And then it kept growing and growing.’
The syndrome only seems to affect Lock’s hair.
“They said because he was developing normally in every other area of his life, that we didn’t need to be worried about anything else being a concern,” she says
Katelyn lets Lock’s hair “just be in its free form.”
“I hardly have to wash it, unless he’s literally playing in the dirt, because it doesn’t get greasy,” she says.
“It’s incredibly soft, and people want to touch it all the time. I hardly brush it, because it’s very fragile. I just try to be very gentle with it and not mess with it unless I have to.”
Watch a transition of Lock’s hair below
