Meet Lizzie Velasquez, who was once bullied and referred to as “The World’s Ugliest Woman.” Lizzie was first bullied when she came across her own video which was uploaded on YouTube. She then began to see the world as a mean and a hurtful place. Lizzie is one among the rarest people who have Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome which prevents a person from gaining weight, in turn affecting the heart, eyes and the bones of an individual. Individuals with this syndrome exhibit an aged look, as their muscle mass dissipates and the skin sags.
A year after the incident took place, she was asked by the assistant principal of her school in Austin, Texas to share her story with 400 students. At that moment she felt, no one would be able to relate to her story but many teens reached out after she delivered her story. This brought hope in her and she went out to motivate people who were being bullied like her. Lizzie, now is an inspiration to many women across the world.
She said, “When I started speaking, I realised I could connect with every single person because we all know what it’s like to be bullied and to feel insecure, but in that moment, I had never felt so confident in my own skin.”
It’s been 10 years and she’s been encouraging people to stand up and beat back bullies.
Lizzie now has a YouTube channel of her own which is inspiring millions of viewers. She has written four books and the recent one is titled “A Brave Heart : The Lizzie Velasquez Story.” She also spoke at a TED event and had more than 11 million viewers listening to her story. She wanted to reach out to people and tell them that they were not alone and, because of which she started a campaign with Secret, a deodorant brand which invited girls and woman to share anti bullying pledge on social media with a hashtag #StandUpWithSecret.
“Gaining fame has definitely come with amazing opportunities, but there’s also a new sense of responsibility,” said Lizzie. “I was able to get on the other side of bullying and if I was able to do that, then you can absolutely get there as well.”
