Addressing Psoriasis™ Winners

Not afraid anymore
Matt Ehnle
Age 22, Encampment, Wyo.

Encampment, Wyo., pop. 400, is a tough place for a kid with plaque psoriasis—especially one with dreams of being a model.

"It was hard, being from a small town where nobody knew what it was or had it," says Matt Ehnle, now 22. "I was just ashamed of my body."

After he was diagnosed with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis at age 12, Matt dropped out of many of the activities he loved. For eight years, he didn't wear shorts or short-sleeved shirts. He stopped playing sports and covered up even while swimming and rafting.

When Matt moved to Steamboat Springs, Colo., a few years ago, he found it was just too hot to stay covered up all summer. With encouragement from new friends, he got back out on the water and began to show his skin again.

In the last year Matt's psoriasis has improved by about 50 percent. He loves to spend his hard-earned money on clothes that make him look and feel good.

"I'm not afraid anymore," he says.

Now back in his hometown, Matt manages the restaurant and bar at a local resort. An e-mail about the Addressing Psoriasis™ contest revived his fantasies of modeling, and he's excited to head to New York with a message for other small-town kids with psoriasis: "Just love yourself for who you are. When people make you feel bad or put you down it's because of something they don't like or don't understand about themselves."