Nichola McAvoy has lived with alopecia for 15 years.

She lost all of her hair at around 11 years old. Her best friend, Nicola, also lost her hair during her first year of secondary school.

Nichola says their friendship has helped them cope with the ‘isolating’ experience of having alopecia.

She has launched an alopecia friend-finding app, which aims to help others with the condition make friends like them.

“People can try to understand, but they don’t get it,” Nicola said.

“I drew on that experience of me and Nicola experiencing so much together, and how important it is to have somebody that knew exactly what you were going through,” Nichola added.

This clip is originally from BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday 9th December 2018.