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Lizzie Velasquez has dealt with criticism and bullying her entire life.
She was born with neonatal progeroid syndrome, an incredibly uncommon genetic disorder that affects her growth and development. Her face, muscles, brain, heart, eyes, and bones are all affected. Her skin is wrinkled, and her disease also keeps her from gaining weight. At 5’2”, Velasquez barely tips the scale at 80 pounds.
Velasquez grew up being bullied on the schoolyard, but when she was 17, the harsh words reached a new level.
Someone had posted a video of her online and called her “the world’s ugliest woman.”
In the comments section, Velasquez discovered thousands of people around the world telling her to kill herself.
Velasquez admits, “[The video] made me feel awful, I think if anyone were to put themselves in my shoes the moment I found that video, and reading all the comments, I think you'd instantly knew how I felt.
“It was horrible, I was upset, I was angry, and I didn't know how I was going to pick myself back up from it.”
She spent several years rebuilding her confidence from this incident, and has since found the courage to spin a positive angle on this negative attention.
Velasquez, now 27, has decided to agree to make a documentary about her life and experiences growing up. “I knew I of course wanted to do [the documentary] but I didn't want it to be about just me,” Velasquez explained, “I wanted you to be able to see my story but my goal was for when people would watch it they would see themselves or their family members of their friends.”
The documentary, A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story, can soon be watched online.
Interested in seeing her before you view the documentary? See a clip of her interview with Sunrise:
