Tayla Clement was 11 when doctors took tissue from her leg to create a smile on her face.
It didn’t work, and the bullying got worse. The 28-year-old New Zealander was born with Moebius syndrome, a neurological condition so rare that it paralyzes the face and prevents her from moving her eyebrows and upper lip. At school, she was insulted and beaten because she couldn’t smile. At 18, clinical depression and post-traumatic stress caused her to have as many as nine seizures a day, and doctors doubted she would ever be able to live alone.
But years of intensive therapy changed the course of her life. Today, she lives with her partner, has a puppy, and they’ve just bought their home. She started posting on Instagram just to keep her loved ones updated on her recovery, and went from 200 followers to tens of thousands.
Days ago, she read with tears in her eyes a message from a mother whose son had been born just two months earlier with the same syndrome. She felt alone and without guidance until she found Tayla’s page. “Receiving messages like that makes it all worthwhile”, said Tayla, almost at a loss for words.