Two Penn High School siblings shave their heads for Rio Allred

GRANGER, Ind. --- Two Penn High School siblings shave their own heads to show support for 12-year-old Rio Allred. Rio had alopecia and sadly took her own life because of bullies.

Emma and Kyle Martin never even met Rio but that didn't stop them from picking up the clippers. Rio is actually a distant cousin of theirs which made the news of her death even harder.

Emma says it’s the least she can do to help honor the North Side Middle School student.

"I feel like hair is just hair, really it's such a traditional standard of beauty to put too much worth of yourself and other people into your hair so I really wasn't hesitant to shave it all off because unlike Rio's, mine is going to grow back,” Emma Martin said.

Emma and Kyle’s parents say they're very proud of their kids for stepping up to raise awareness of the sometimes tragic impacts of bullying.

“We just want to do something to raise awareness to help either people who are being bullied to maybe have confidence to come forward and report this kind of behavior or maybe people who are thinking of bullying someone else to maybe reconsider,” Chris Martin said, Emma and Kyle’s dad. "I'm very proud of our kids for stepping up and doing this for sure. It's a big, very bold move and it takes a lot of courage to do something like this."