Bullies Attempted To Destroy Her Life — Today At 31 Years Old Her Haters Are Silenced

Jan 27, 2021 by apost team

At some point in everyone's life, there is a struggle within themselves over self-esteem. Often, this occurs because of something they see as sub-par physically. Where one person may feel self-conscious about their skin, another may be stressing over their weight. For Lizzie Velásquez of Austin, Texas, it was how others reacted to her that tormented her every day of her life. This video from 2015 shows a small snippet of her life, and her strength in overcoming the struggles the world has put on her shoulders. 

Velásquez was born in Austin, Texas, on March 13, 1989. She weighed a mere 2 pounds 11 ounces, and as a young girl, didn't comprehend that she was different in any way. She laughed and played as all children do, blissfully unaware of what was to come. Once she started kindergarten, that changed. Her carefree childhood innocence came to a halt when she faced her classmates, even at such a young and tender age.

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"To my family, I was just Lizzie. It was a big slap of reality for a 5-year-old. The other kids were scared of me, pointing at me, not wanting to sit with me," she explained to Today. "I couldn't process it. I wasn't doing anything to them, so why was it happening to me? And I didn't dare tell anyone."

She continued, "Finally, I told my parents and they said, 'There is nothing wrong with you, you are just smaller than the other kids. You are beautiful and smart and can accomplish anything.'"

Thankfully, those words really resonated with Velásquez and stuck with her. She realized what all human beings should: What is on the outside does not dictate the person we are within or what we can accomplish. To overcome her outside barriers, Velásquez had to make herself tough mentally. With the help and support of her parents, that is just what she set out to do.

Born with a rare genetic condition, Velásquez has suffered the cruelty of her peers since kindergarten. The condition prevents her from being able to gain weight normally and significantly affects her appearance. By the time she turned 16, the internet had amplified her abuse. Velásquez was determined to not let the cruel insults define her, however. Now at 31, she is a world-renowned anti-bullying activist and speaker.

High school is generally a time full of friends and fun, homecoming games, and prom. Unfortunately, not everyone has it so good. Imagine an image or video of you started circulating online with the text "The Ugliest Woman/Man in the World" attached. Furthermore, think of how it would feel seeing thousands of comments from strangers under it, saying all sorts of cruel things.

That seems unimaginable, but for Velásquez, it was her reality. The mocking of her peers had turned into a worldwide crescendo of verbal abuse and hate. This would have been enough to break anyone's spirit, but Velásquez decided to rise above. She felt that the best thing to do was try and turn all of the negativity into something positive. That is emotional fortitude at a level that most adults cannot display, much less a teenager.

Velásquez was born with lipodystrophy, which affects the way that a person's body distributes fat. She was also born with Marfan syndrome. This rare genetic disorder affects the body's connective tissue, most often in the blood vessels, eyes, heart, and skeleton. Velásquez's particular case is known collectively as Marfanoid–progeroid–lipodystrophy syndrome. It is so rare that not even 10 cases had been reported as of 2016. In Velásquez's instance, the disorder has caused blindness in one eye and makes her age faster than normal.

Kids can be cruel when someone is the tiniest bit different than they are, and unfortunately for Velásquez, children were calling her face "disgusting" as early as kindergarten. "At the time, I thought everyone looked like me. I didn't recognize or tell that they didn't look like me," Velásquez told the Daily Mail.

Even with all of this adversity, Velásquez pushed forward. By the time she reached her high school days, she had realized that no one else but herself had power over her life. Her mindset was to stay brave in the face of whatever came her way and to remain positive no matter what. Besides, she had a life to live and wanted to do all the fun things with her friends that teens do.

"It was scary, but I knew it would pay off," Velásquez told Today. "I was staff writer for the school newspaper and took photos for the yearbook. I tried out for cheerleading. The uniforms were really cute, and every time I wore it around the school, I felt like a superhero. I was more myself around my peers, the version of myself around my family."

Velásquez was gaining confidence, and her world was improving. That all suddenly changed one evening when she was doing homework. Taking a study break, she switched to YouTube, and her heart sank when she saw what was on the computer screen.

Someone had made a video about her. It was dubbed the "world's ugliest woman" and had millions of views when Velásquez saw it. Worse than that, there were tons of comments already, with more coming in. She couldn't stop reading them even though many were appalling. Some people even said that the world would be a better place if she'd only take her own life. Velásquez kept reading, desperately hoping to see someone stick up for her. No one did.

As you can imagine, this was a heart-wrenching experience. In her interview with Today, Velásquez later said that "it felt like someone was putting a fist through the computer screen and physically punching me." How insane is this world that thousands of people can hide behind their computer screens and say such horrendous things to a complete stranger? Even worse, they typed this cruelty for the world to read about a 16-year-old girl suffering from illnesses beyond her control and inherited from birth.

Again, Velásquez was going through a time that would emotionally destroy many people. Not Miss Velásquez, however; she picked herself up and kept moving forward with her head held high. She later stated that if she could send flowers and a thank you card to the creator of the video, she would. She explained that the reason why is that the video changed her life forever that day.

"I didn't want to retaliate — it was a waste of time," she said. "I just wanted to prove them wrong. I realized I could use it for the greater good." Never one to let haters win, she set about to let that hostility fuel the fire for who she would become. After high school, she persevered in college at Texas State University. At age 23, she earned her bachelor's degree in communications.

Soon after graduating, Velásquez was invited to give a TED Talk in Austin, and she jumped at the chance. In the talk, she explained that while there had been pain caused by the lifetime of mocking, she wanted to give people a different perspective. The outlook she portrayed resonated with many viewers, and the resulting video ended up going viral.

"For so long, I thought that what defined me was my outer appearance," she said in the 2013 TED Talk, explaining that she used to daydream about "scrubbing the syndrome" off her face.

About seeing the dreadful YouTube video, Velásquez explained that "Something kind of clicked in my head...Am I going to let the people who called me a monster define me?...No, I'm going to let my goals and my success and my accomplishments be the things that define me."

Most people suffering this long-lasting and wide-reaching cruelty would have a tough time coming out okay on the other end. Luckily, Velásquez is not most people. Today, she is a successful 31-year-old businesswoman. Even though she still has to focus on her health by eating enough daily calories to keep her energy up, she still travels the world over, lecturing about her illnesses and life story.

"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," Velásquez said in an interview with the Daily Mail. Her steadfast positivity and hard work at not letting her haters get her down have paid off, too. As of this writing, she has over 860,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. It's a safe bet that she is more successful than those who put her down ever will be!

"You are beautiful and smart and can accomplish anything," Velásquez said her parents would say. "They loved me in the face of so many unknowns." Velásquez has definitely been inspirational to many and is an incredible person all-around. These qualities do not always protect her, however. For most, 2020 was a challenging year in many ways. Velásquez is no different, but it wasn't just the COVID-19 pandemic that was causing the stress and pain in her life.

The internet struck out at Velásquez again this past year, this time on the social media app TikTok. Once again, she found her image being passed around, ridiculed, and mocked, reports Daily Mail. To make matters worse, it was a child's mother that started it. She used Velásquez's image as a prank, saying to a child that the person in the photo would be their teacher in the coming year.

By the time July rolled around, the 'prank' had become a trend among parents, who were doing FaceTime calls saying Velásquez would be their children's teacher. Obviously, this hurt Velásquez deeply. 

Velásquez took the opportunity to point out that this behavior only encourages children to react negatively to people based on their outward appearance. After all, kids model their parents' behavior. "When kids are in school or whether they are out in public, it's crucial to teach them the importance of respecting someone who doesn't look like them," Velásquez stated in a video posted on her Twitter account.

"Showing them a video might be a joke, but it can be something that shows a child if my mom or dad thinks it's funny, then it must be okay for me to laugh at as well," she continued. "I take great responsibility in the fact that now is the time to do all I can to speak up for those who might not have a voice or for those who don't know how to use theirs." She went on to add, "I knew in my gut my photo was going to be used. After dealing with things like this for a while now, I can sense when this might happen."

After Velásquez went public condemning the parents' actions, something remarkable happened. Children all over the world started posting videos about her. This time, however, they were not being mean. Instead, they were commenting on how beautiful she is.

Thankfully, Velásquez's courage has now been recognized worldwide by children and adults alike, and Velásquez had proven yet again that haters just won't win in the end. It takes immense strength to go through tough times and come out more positive in the end. People like Lizzie Velásquez are an inspiration not just because of the things they tell but because of who they are inside. We wish Ms. Velásquez the very best for her future! 

Velásquez is a shining star in a world filled with hate who turned something ugly into something beautiful. Everyone could learn a thing or two from that. If you know someone that is suffering in silence, pass this on. They just might find the bit of strength they need!