WHEN their son was about 8 months old, Kate Samples and her husband Caleb knew something was off with his hair.
Now at 18-months old, their son Locklan has hair that looks like it's blowing in a permanent breeze: light blonde and sticking straight up.
Samples told The Sun that she and her husband loved their son Locklan's unruly hair once it started coming in, but they knew it was a bit different.
Then, she received a random Instagram message from a woman asking if Locklan had been diagnosed with "uncombable hair syndrome."
That set things off for Samples, who called her pediatrician for answers, who in turn had to Google the condition due to its rarity.
After being sent to specialists in Atlanta, Georgia, it was determined that Locklan did indeed have uncombable hair syndrome, or "spun-glass hair" as it's more accurately called,which is a genetic condition that causes fragile, very soft hair.
The condition is so rare that Locklan is one of only 100 known cases around the world.
Samples explained that the syndrome causes the hair to have a unique triangular or heart-shaped structure, which is why it stands up the way it does and has a kink in every strand.
Upon hearing Locklan's diagnosis, Samples and her husband actually felt relieved that their son didn't have any other health issues.
Samples explained: "There's no other health-related problems or issues or concerns. So we were relieved.
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"We were like, 'Oh if your kid's going to have a rare genetic disorder, crazy hair's the one to have it.'"
Surprisingly, Locklan's hair is incredibly low-maintenance and Samples said she just "lets it be" other than the occasional brushing.
"I can't even tell you the last time I washed his hair," she said.
"It doesn't get like greasy and oily, but it is soft and can be fragile."
While Samples said her older son, Shep, knows about Locklan's special hair, Locklan himself does not, he just loves all of the attention.
And he gets lots of attention, almost all of which is positive.
"There's always a response to his hair and it is almost always very positive," Samples said.
"He makes people happy. They love it. They're interested in it. They want to touch it. That's the number one question I get."
Samples herself affectionately calls her son her "little dandelion," but Locklan's quite a few fun comparisons.
"We get comparisons a lot to like Donald Trump or Boris Johnson.
"He gets called like a little rock star a lot cause of his hair, 'a baby Billy Idol.'"
While Samples has gotten a few untoward comments from adults, such as "that baby wakes up every day with a bad hair day," kids have the best attitude towards Locklan's hair.
"Kids are actually the nicest and they just come up and they're like'that baby has cool hair' and they like rubbed his head.
"It's like a little good luck charm."
Today, you can find snaps of Locklan laughing and playing with his brother on Instagram, which Samples created to spread awareness.
She said she hopes she and her husband can be a resource to other parents that may be going through the same diagnosis as Locklan.
"If somebody else is in the same boat, hopefully, we can help at least direct somebody in the right direction.
"Hopefully we'll get more diagnoses and then we can get more answers as to where it all comes from and what it means and what could actually be side effects from it."
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For now, Samples is teaching both her sons to be proud of themselves and to treat people how they want to be treated, what she called "the golden rule."
"To kind of lead with kindness and be confident. And if they can do those things, I think that both of them will be just fine in life."
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