The best thing I can do
in response to all those who have mocked me
and called me a monster,
is make me happy

Lizzie Velasquez

Lizzie is in high school when she comes across a video posted on YouTube. She doesn’t know it yet, but that video talks about her, labelling her the ‘ugliest woman in the world’. It is a clip that has been viewed millions of times and has gone viral around the web, unleashing the network’s cruellest instincts. Unbeknownst to her, Lizzie has become the target of thousands of hate-filled comments. She is insulted, some go so far as to write to her: ‘Do the world a favour, kill yourself’.

Born in Austin, Texas, Lizzie has a very rare disease, De Barsy syndrome, which prevents her body from storing and storing fat. It is virtually impossible for her to gain weight. She is one hundred and fifty-seven centimetres tall and has never exceeded twenty-nine kilos in her entire life. From birth her parents are informed by the doctors of her difficult situation, but their response is firm: ‘We will love her and grow to the best of our abilities’. Lizzie later confides: ‘They could have asked, why us? But they didn’t.

“It took me a long time to realise what defines me. At first I thought it was my syndrome,’ Lizzie says. But then she realised something fundamental: it is not the person who called her ‘monster’ or told her ‘kill yourself’ that will define her identity. It will not be her physical appearance, her partial blindness or even a pathology that no one really knows. What will define her will be her satisfactions, her joys, her achievements. “I told myself: work hard and do everything you can to improve yourself”.

Today Lizzie travels the world as a motivational speaker and is the producer of an award-winning documentary about her life. Followed on social media, she is also the author of books about beauty and inviting people to “dare” kindness. Bullying was her biggest stumbling block, but also her biggest revenge. She doesn’t know who posted that video, but she knows it changed her life

Taken from Extraordinary Lives
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