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Although many people will tell you that the world is getting more inclusive, there are still times when people may be judgmental based on the way someone looks. Unfortunately, this can affect the individual being bullied and sometimes, it may affect them for life.
We have these problems because, in our eyes, we aren’t perfect unless we look like the influencers on social media. There is a lot of weight that has always been put on our physical appearance, but it just seems to be getting worse these days as the stereotypes are increasing.
One woman who understands this all too well is Karine de Souza. She is from Brazil, and she has been protecting her skin since she was very young. She even wears SPF 100 sunscreens while she is at home!
The reason why this 33-year-old woman pays such careful attention to her skin is because she is diagnosed with Xeroderma Pigmentosum. The diagnosis came when she was only three years old and it is a very rare condition.
When you have this condition, you are extremely photosensitive. Even if you are out in the sun for a very short amount of time, you could end up with a significant sunburn.
Even when she was a little girl, she wasn’t able to spend a lot of time outside so she ended up staying indoors. She said: “When I expose myself to the sun, it doesn’t happen in the moment; I don’t feel anything. However, in the future, the lesions appear and need to be removed because of cancer.”
Over the years, she has had about 130 surgeries to remove legions. She has also lost part of her nose and lip due to sun damage.
The physical challenges that she has to face are only part of the story. She also tends to be bullied by others and abused in her local community. She also faces this abuse online.
Despite the fact that she has gone through a lot of difficulties in life, she ended up finding a man who would marry her. He loves her for her strength and her story, and he has never left her side since they were married.
She had three children from a prior relationship and he was there to care for both her and them. She said that he showed her what was possible and that she could live in a true love story.
After posting pictures of the two of them online, however, she ended up getting a lot of messages that were less than supportive.
Some said that the handsome young man could never have loved her and that she was a ‘sugar mommy’ because of her wealth.
When they got engaged, a photographer took pictures and it was uploaded with the following caption:
“In a world where appearance matters more than feelings, they met not by chance, but by a gathering of souls, an encounter of acceptance and character, and love emerged when their souls met, and today you are the inspiration to so many people who do not believe in themselves, in life, and especially in love.
THANK YOU every day for being who you are. STOP complaining for being like you are. HUG LIFE, and accept yourself. Much gratitude for teaching me so much. You guys are AMAZING. You are the missing hope in so many people. Thank you for the big hug and for the wonderful day we experienced together. I carry your smile with me forever.”
Her husband said that when he saw her post he fell in love with her life story and her strength. He also loved her for not minding the prejudice of the people.
Karine and Edmilson welcome the daughter in 2023. They had been trying to conceive since 2020, so that birth was very optimistic.
Karine has been through much in her life, but she continues to remain optimistic, providing us all hope as well.
