BY: CHESKA
“Beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes to the bone” is a message, advice and a warning, to face the practicalities of real life, do not get carried away by seeing a beauty; at the same time, do not be surprised and taken aback to experience the ugliness of someone. Beauty may be misleading and ugliness may exude wrong impression; the person by heart and intent may be wonderfully good.
Meet Lizzie Velasquez, who tagged as “world’s ugliest woman” in Youtube video and mocked by people around the world. Now, has hit back bashers with an anti-bullying documentary about her life.
Lizzie was born with Marfan syndrome which hinders her from gaining weight. According to Mayo Clinic, it is an inherited disorder that affects connective tissue- the fibers that support and anchor the organs structures in the body. People with Marfan syndrome are usually tall and with disproportionately long arms, legs fingers and toes.
Lizzie is only 5ft 2 ins tall and weighs 58 lbs.
Photo Credit: DailyMail
Photo Credit: DailyMail
She recounted:
“All we had known all my life was that I had a syndrome which meant that I couldn't gain weight.”
“At the time, I thought everyone looked like me. I didn't recognise or tell that they didn't look like me.”
She was first bullied as a child in school for being different and as a 17 year-old teen-aged girl she stumbled upon a video of herself on YouTube which illustrates her as the “world’s ugliest woman”
The the said video viewed four million times, plus nasty comments from netizens about her appearance, some even suggested that she should have killed at birth.
She recalled:
“It was afternoon. I decided to go look for music on YouTube - and that's when I found it,”she said.
“I don't even know why I clicked on it but I did and that's when I lost it”
“Calling me a monster or asking why my parents didn't abort me... how in the world can I forgive the people who told me to kill myself?”
Lizzie as courageous as she is, now inspired people and fought back by giving a TED talk in 2013 which she says “changed everything”
She said:
“This is my purpose. This is what I'm meant to do for the rest of my life”
“I like to think that I'm not only telling my story, I'm telling everyone's story.”
A documentary about her life titled “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story” was shown at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It was a 78-minute film which detailed her inspiring journey from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist.
It also featured her emotional and physical path through the years as she also tried to lobby the US government for the first federal anti-bullying Bill.
According to Director Sara Hirsh Bordo “'Bullying is a subject that historically yields heartbreaking stories of hopelessness and in many times, loss. Rarely is there a story of survival and inspiration that continues to crossover ages, genders, and ethnicities… enter the brave story of Lizzie Velasquez.'
The two met when Director Bordo invited Lizzie to give the TED Talk, which attracted 10 million viewers.
Photo Credit: DailyMail
“She was a local hero whose time, we found out shortly after, had arrived,”
“We live in a culture of tremendous meanness. And few people have experienced it more than Lizzie”
“Lizzie chose to not give up, but to forgive and to thrive; as an author, as a speaker, and now as an activist.”
“What I wanted to show is that this is Lizzie’s film, but it is everyone’s story.” She added
Now, Lizzie’s own YouTube channel, has more than 700,000 subscribers as of this writing.
Photo Credit: DailyMail
Photo Credit: DailyMail
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Source: DailyMail
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