Rhonda Manring was 2 years old when she was told she had neurofibromatosis.
A genetic condition that causes benign tumors to grow along the nerves. The ones on her face became increasingly noticeable. Doctors couldn’t remove them: according to her, surgery would have done more harm than good. So Rhonda grew up in Virginia with a face others couldn’t stop staring at. She broke her legs five times each, wore a halo to try to make the right one grow, and became reserved at school. Good friends were few. Stares were many.
But she defined herself differently: always cheerful, outgoing, and in love with life. And she found a place to express that. In her makeup room, she created colorful looks and posted them on Facebook and Instagram. She gathered some 9.000 followers who didn’t see a tumor; they saw an artist. That community helped her accept herself and gave her something bigger: a voice. She used it to explain that neurofibromatosis isn’t contagious and that everyone is beautiful, even if society thinks otherwise.
Rhonda passed away in September. But her words still ring true: “I’m glad to have the life I have”.