Carter was 8 years old when the spots began to cover his face.
In Arkansas, United States, the diagnosis came in 2014: vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that erased the color of the skin around his eyes. Carter stopped looking at himself in the mirror. He told his mother, Stephanie Adcock, that he hated his own face. He withdrew from his friends, and sadness settled into his daily routine.
Stephanie did not give up and found Rowdy on social media, a black Labrador from Oregon who had received the same diagnosis that same year. A stranger, moved by the story, donated 5.000 dollars so mother and son could travel to meet him. When Carter finally hugged Rowdy, he understood that he was not alone. He returned to class without hiding his face, and although the dog died in 2017, Carter still writes messages to him on his Facebook profile every year, like someone thanking a friend who gave him his smile back.