American motivational speaker, anti-bullying
activist and author, Lizzie Velasquez was
dubbed the 'World's Ugliest Woman" in a video
posted on YouTube when she was 17. She has a
rare congenital disease which among other
symptoms, prevents her from accumulating body
fat. The condition resulted in bullying during her
childhood and early youth.
The 27-year-old from Austin, Texas, who has
spoken out against bullying, was diagnosed with
Marfan syndrome by the Baylor College of
Medicine. She has zero percent body fat and is
medically unable to gain weight. Additionally,
she is blind in in her right eye and vision-
impaired in her left eye. Doctors told her
parents, at birth that she would never speak or
walk. The doctors were wrong. In fact, at 27,
she does both professionally. HuffPost described
her as a "seasoned motivational speaker and a
"self-professed pacer" while she speaks on
stage"
"There were many times where I was so
frustrated and angry. I didn’t know who
to blame or who to get angry at. I made
every birthday wish, I lit every candle at
church and did every prayer before bed. I
said ‘God, please take this all away from
me. Please make me normal," Velasquez
told the crowd during one of her speaking
engagements last year.
Velasquez has written two books, 'Be Beautiful,
Be You and 'Choosing Happiness' directed
towards teenagers, which share personal stories
from her life and offer advice and talks about
obstacles she has faced in her life and how
she's learned the importance of choosing to be
happy when it's all too easy to give up.
Growing up in Texas, Velasquez was teased,
gawked at or sometimes downright ignored. She
remembers her first day of kindergarten and
noticing for the first time in her life that other
kids were scared of her. She went home and
asked her parents what was wrong with her.
"I credit my parents’ answer with why I’m
able to do what I do today," she said to
HuffPost. When I asked them what was
wrong with me they said there’s nothing
wrong with you. The only difference is
that you’re smaller than the other kids.
They told me we are going to love you
and support you and help you reach every
dream you have," she added.
Her parents treated her like everyone else. But
the world did not. Velasquez remembers going
to amusement parks and feeling like an
attraction. Groups of adults would stop mid-
conversation and stare at her. She refused to go
to water parks because she couldn’t stand to be
in a bathing suit in public.
A documentary film based on her life which is
entitled A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez
Story, premiered at SXSW last year and is set to
premiere on Lifetime on October 17th, 2016. The
optimistic young woman took to Instagram five
days ago to write about the birth of the
documentary.
"I still remember the day we hung up
giant post it notes on a wall and
brainstormed what would be needed to
bring @abraveheartfilm life. I remember
our cheers of happiness as each of you
gave so generously of your time and
money to help our team. I remember the
day we realized this project was so much
larger than us. I want to congratulate not
only our Brave Heart team but everyone
who has watched, shared, and helped
give a voice to those who needed the
help. On October 17th at 8pm PT/ET, our
documentary will make its television
debut on @lifetimetv! Here's to us
remembering the day we helped bring
awareness to the possibility of coming
out on the other side of bullying"
Source: Lizzie Velasques/Instagram, Wikipedia,
additional information from Huff Post.
photos below..
0 comments:
Post a Comment