Totally OT, but this is a pretty amazing young woman. NIne years ago, at age 17, she was searching for music online and came across a video titled “The World’s Ugliest Woman”. It was images of her. I can’t even imagine.

‘Online bullies called me the world’s ugliest woman’

Velasquez was already used to being bullied daily for the way she looks. Born with two rare conditions - Marfan and lipodystrophy - she is unable to gain weight, no matter how much she eats. When she started kindergarten she remembers how classmates recoiled from her, afraid.

Now 26 she is 5ft 2in and weighs about 60lbs (27kg). She is totally blind in her right eye and visually impaired in the other, and was in and out of hospital growing up with a number of health problems - eye surgery, ear surgery, complete foot reconstruction, bone density tests, and a number of blood tests as doctors tried to decipher what her condition was. It wasn’t until last year that they managed to put a name to it. […]

Full of instant love for their daughter, Velasquez’s parents, Rita and Lupe, say they never thought “why is this happening to us”, and just wanted to get her home, to start her life.

It’s because of this attitude that Velasquez credits her parents entirely for her ability to think positively when she was being bullied at school or stared at and mocked in the streets. As a child they told her to go to school with her head held high, smile, and be nice to everyone, no matter how they treated her. It’s a message that has stuck and she says now that she happily forgives the person who posted that YouTube video nine years ago. “I don’t know what they’re going through,” she says. “While my life may be hard at times, they could be going through something much worse.” […]

bbc.com