Stories

From Despair to Hair:
The Story of Telmö Aerts

As told by Telmö himself - Former Bald

Hey there, I'm Telmö Aerts! I'm a 22 year old Psychology student from Tilburg, and I used to be bald. Yeah unbelievable, I know. Anyone that meets me today can't even imagine there was a time where my dome was smooth, and if I'm being completely honest, it also feels like a different world to me.

It all started when I was 14. I took a shower and while shampooing my head, I noticed that the drain kept being clogged by my hair. At first I thought nothing of it, surely this was just a temporary effect of puberty? But I couldn't have been more wrong.

Over the next 5 years, every day I woke up a little balder than the day before. I'd tried everything. Finasteride. Derma rollers. Religion. But nothing worked. And as my hair thinned, so did my joy.

By the time I had turned 21, I had lost everything. Not a single hair on my head. It truly felt like everything was over for me. People who saw me assumed I was bald on purpose, that someone my age could not be this bald, that I had fallen down some extreme alt-right pipeline and this was the result. But no, this is just the path my genes had laid out for me.

Things got so bad that in my second year of university I failed nearly all of my classes.

That's when I met Kemal. He found me as I sat lost in sorrow on the Tilburg university campus, wearing my signature hoodie, covering my poor excuse for a scalp. First I thought he just wanted to make fun of me, like everyone else. But in that darkness, Kemal reached a hand out to me. He told me about his journey, his mission, and that he couldn't stand seeing me in pain like this.

And everything changed. Suddenly people were looking at me, not in disgust, but as a person. The same professors who at one point couldn't stand engaging with me were happily answering my questions. Life finally regained its colour and I could rebuild myself. When I looked in the mirror, after years, I finally saw myself staring back.

Shortly after I retried joining Complex, and now that I was hairy, they accepted me. I even got to join the volleyball association! Becoming a beloved member in any space I was in. Something I could never have believed to be a possibility back when I was bald.

I was so moved by Kemal's kindness that I even changed my name. That's right, I have kept something secret from you. Back when I was bald, I still went by my birthname, Telmo. But to pay respect to Kemal, and the Turkish culture, I changed my name. A strong proud name to represent the strong country of Türkiye. I'm now Telmö.

Please hear my story and spread my message. Life does not have to be this way. You just need to open your eyes and look for the opportunities around you. There are people like me all around, lost, scared men that just need someone to look out for them.

So please, next time you see someone whose hairline has regressed, reach out a hand. Be there. See them for who they could be, not for who they are, and refer them to Kemal.

I'm really happy to see that Kemal is finally reaching more people now, and I hope with all my heart that the next Caelestia can be the Hairy Edition, so we can spread this beautiful treatment to all who need it.