Doctors see something coming out of baby’s jaw. When they find out what it was, it left them in awe. This is how loving ourselves can change the world. Because what you radiate automatically seeks its vibrational match. Like attracts, like and magnetically.
Every action changes the world. So start doing nothing but good stuff out there. Sooner or later that’s all that will be around you is positive energy. It’ll go into other people around you without you even knowing. A teenage girl who was born with a severely disfigured face was the bow of the ball at her first school prom after a lifetime of operations to give her a stunning smile.
Katie Mehan, aged 16, was born with cystic hygroma, a condition where fluid forms a mass of the head and neck, which left her with a misshapen face and an enlarged tongue. Doctors feared Katie from Felgate. Gerald would never talk and 60, £0 was raised by well wishers for a series of operations to change her life. Her mother, Don McIntyre, 49, who waved her off, said Katie looked absolutely beautiful. It was such a proud moment for the family and I.
When you look back on how she was when she was a little baby to now, the transformation is amazing. She just looks stunning. She’s come such a long way. Katie’s condition was also lifethreatening, as whenever she contracted a cold or infection, her face would swell to twice its normal size, potentially meaning her Airways could close and she could stop breathing. Katie had her first operation in 2000 at Guise in St Thomas’s Hospital in London, carried out by Professor Ian Jackson.
Her left cheek and tongue were cut open during the five hour surgery and cysts were removed. In spring 2001, she had her second at the Portland Hospital in London and two years later she had a third operation. Although Professor Jackson is now retired, Katie still needs one more operation to her tongue and the lower inside of her mouth. Dawn said, we’re not dashing into it. Katie is a happy and confident girl, so there’s no rush.
We’re going to concentrate on her education first because this time we’ll be able to get surgery on the NHS. And while that’s great, we’ll have to start at the beginning with scans, as the NHS doesn’t have any medical records. We’ll always be grateful to the community for all their help over the years and we now feel like they’re part of our family because so many people ask how she’s doing? Katie, who’s waiting for her GCSE results, will be staying on at her school to start 6th form, where she will study A levels in English language, photography, business studies and philosophy and ethics. She said the prom was fantastic.
It was great to see all my friends dressed up and looking lovely. We had a delicious three course meal too. I couldn’t eat all of it, but I had a good go. I have one GCSE exam left and then I’ll have to wait for the results. Fingers crossed I’ll get good ones.
It’s made up of cysts and is a condition affecting the Lymphatic section, she tells Nine Honey. It can be pretty gross and painful, but I have a great quality of life and I’m Super happy with my life. In fact, she’s grateful for having the rare condition as its letter to where she is now. If anything, having this condition has presented me with opportunities I didn’t think I’d ever have in life, so if anything, I consider myself very lucky, she explains. Having now garnered over 200 followers on Instagram, Katie now runs a successful blog all about her main passion makeup.
But the blogger isn’t afraid to speak up other issues, most recently standing up against the harsh criticism and shaming the contestants were facing on Love Island, UK about cosmetic surgery. Sharing photographs of herself before and after her lifechanging surgery, Katie encouraged people to stop shaming people’s choices. I see no difference between changing
your face for cosmetic reasons or medical reasons, she said on Twitter. Katie had her surgery for medical reasons when she was young, but it wasn’t an easy process since funding for her facial surgery wasn’t available on the NHS in the UK. Money was raised through her local community for the operation.
Because of that, Katie grew up as a mini celebrity in her hometown. Elaborating on her comments on social media, the blogger explains to Nine Honey, she wanted to fight back against the people judging those on the show to such a harsh degree. Two previous contestants have sadly passed away due to suicide caused by depression. Obviously, this is hugely down to the reactions in life after the show. I was tired of seeing people hiding behind a phone and giving their opinion, which is completely unwarranted or justified about another person’s body.
What someone chooses to do about their appearance and body is entirely up to them. Her strong stance advocating for people’s rights to have cosmetic surgery surprises some people, she reveals. Being born this way is all I’ve ever known, so sometimes I find it hard to talk about something I’ve always perceived as normal. However, forming a close relationship with a group of people who have also experienced the same things as me has definitely made me think about it more. As a group, we talk a lot about having cystic hygroma and lean on each other for support, as living with it has its own share of negatives.
For example, I guess a lot of people like to focus on the fact that it makes me look visibly different and that often creates a lot of pain and physical discomfort for me to deal with. But raising awareness online and being part of the group helps as we all have different experiences and can talk about things that truly no one else understands.
We also share things with each other as a form of education as well as emotional support. The condition we have is so rare that there’s little actual research into the medical condition, so we find that sharing our own experiences between each other helps answers many questions medical professionals can’t. There’s nothing but understanding and support in our group, and I’m truly thankful for it.
Undoubtedly. I have absolutely no idea what my life would be like if I didn’t have this disfigurement. However, it’s awarded me so much in life that I wouldn’t have had it otherwise. It feels odd that something that’s so negative has also brought such positivity. For example, I’ve spoken in Parliament, worked with some of my favorite brands, made friends for life, and been able to help people with their self image and confidence, something I’d never have been able to achieve if it wasn’t for having cystic hygroma.
However, it’s not just about physical success. Mentally, I think it has made me an extremely empathetic person and able to connect with people on a deeper level. Now, Katie says that not many people notice she has a disfigurement, and for her, she believes that it’s only herself that notices her insecurities than other people. The Prince’s Trust digital ambassador said her ultimate dream is to pursue a partnership with a beauty brand. The ultimate dream is to work with some more brands that I love.
I would love to be a Face of a Beauty campaign. One of the first beauty bloggers with a disfigurement to be proud and out there supporting others with difficulties. She added, I think you’ve only got one life and you’ve really got to grab it and just do what you want. At the end of the day, it’s your life and you get to dictate what you do with it. Seize the day and make the most of it.
A lot of people think that because of my disfigurement that I would not advocate for surgery. But if someone has had a procedure that’s changed their life, who am I to deny that right or judge others? The blogger explains, if someone, for example, has depression or self confidence issues over their nose and has the means to get rhinoplasty, that will completely change their outlook on life, why not? We live one life and we should be able to live it the way we want to. Well, she advocates for people’s rights to choose what they want to do to their bodies.
Katie also strongly believes much needs to change in modernday society when it comes to appearance and looks. Selfexpression is so important and it’s crucial we’re respected in how we wish to present ourselves to the world, she says. Oppression can come in many ways, one of those being in the way we look. I think the main thing that needs to change is the way we view others to try and change our mindset. When thinking those remarks and how we guide ourselves through this world, we have to unlearn what society has taught us and do what is right.
It’s important for me because I really do believe that we all have a story. We’ve all been through something in our lives that has shaped us or changed us and that in itself can bring us together if we share our experiences. Whilst my own story may not be the case for many people, It’s relatable to some and there are, of course, aspects of it that people can connect to in different ways, so that’s why I share it. However, I truly believe that I was born the way I was for a reason. I don’t want to waste the chances I’ve been given and I want to inspire others to chase their dreams too.
There was no way I’d have thought I’d be doing what I’m doing back when I was six years old. I mean, I’d never imagined that I’d go on to have a career involving being in front of the camera a lot or working with big name beauty brands.
That’s why throughout my social media, I try to get the message across that no matter what you have faced in life, you always have the option to at least try and achieve your dreams. So if people can see me taking leaps and bounds to work on myself and follow my own heart, I hope that inspires at least one person to do the same thing too. By Katie sharing her story, she’s helping society do just that.
So much. So in the future, she hopes beauty brands will be more open to having others like herself represent them. I would love to be one of the first beauty bloggers with a facial disfigurement that works on a beauty campaign with a brand, she says. Love can change anything and anyone. It’s truly the most powerful thing we have.