The Lizzie Velasquez story

'My story is everyone's story': 26-year-old with rare genetic disorder who was once labeled the 'world's ugliest woman' insists she's better off thanks to cruel bullies 

• Lizzie Velasquez was born with a rare syndrome that gives her an aged appearance and makes it hard for the 63lb woman to gain weight
• When she was 17, someone posted a video of her online and strangers made awful comments, telling her to kill herself
• Since then, the Texas resident has made a career as a motivational speaker, giving a TED talk that earned over eight million views
• A new documentary about her life, A Brave Heart, premieres in September

A 26-year-old who was once labeled the ‘ugliest woman in the world’ insists that she is actually thankful for the online bullies who cruelly tormented her about her appearance, because they helped her get to the great place she's in today. 

Lizzie Velasquez was born with neonatal progeroid syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that gives her an aged appearance. It affects her face, muscle tone, brain, heart, eyes, and bones, and also prevents her from gaining weight - meaning that at 5'2", the Austin, Texas, resident is just 63lbs.

Lizzie didn't know she was different until her first day of kindergarten, when her classmates shrunk away from her. The other kids seemed afraid of her appearance and would often point and refuse to sit with her - even though she wasn't doing anything wrong.

'It was a big slap of reality for a five-year-old,' she said.

Her parents told her that she was just smaller than the other kids, but she was beautiful and could accomplish anything.

With a loving family to back her up, things started to improve a bit as she got older. She made an effort to remain positive, and even joined after-school activities to make friends. She was on the school paper and the cheerleading team, and as she put herself out there, her life got better.

Until one day, when everything changed. Lizzie was still in high school, looking for music on YouTube when she stumbled across a video of herself. In the comments section, anonymous strangers said terrible things, labeling her the ‘ugliest woman in the world’ and slinging hurtful insults. They called her a monster, said someone should 'kill it' - meaning her - 'with fire', and asked why her parents didn't abort her.

And though she knew that the kinds of people who would write such awful things are the lowest of the low, that didn’t stop their comments from hurting Lizzie - especially because each and every one of them was negative. 

'I read every single comment thinking there would be one person to stand up for me. Not one person said, "She's a child, leave her alone," or "You don't know her story, why she looks like that,"' Lizzie recalled. 'I felt like someone was putting a fist through the computer screen and physically punching me. I bawled my eyes out.'

ut while most people would have trouble recovering from such a heart-wrenching experience, Lizzie is not most people. In fact, she now says that she would like to thank the person who first labeled her the 'ugliest woman in the world, because he or she changed Lizzie's life.

Perhaps because she had already overcome so much adversity, the young woman was able to turn that cruelness into something good. Since then, she went on to college, wrote a book, and became a motivational speaker and anti-bullying activist - which was most famously seen in her widely-watched in Austin that has been watched over eight million times to date. 

'Even though things are hard, I can't let that define me,' she said on the TED stage. 'My life was put into my hands just like your life was put into yours. You were put in the front seat of the car. You are the one who decides if your car goes down a bad path or a good path. You are the one that decided what defines you.'

Those encouraging words clearly struck a chord with many people. Lizzie explained to Today: 'I'm not sure what it was about the TED talk and what I said in it, but it changed everything.' 

Life History of Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was born on August 27,1910 in Skopje,Macedonia. Mother Teresa's original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. The youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Her father was a successful merchant and she was youngest of the three siblings. She received her First Communion at the age of five and a half and was confirmed in November 1916. From the day of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. Her father’s sudden death when Gonxha was about eight years old left in the family in financial straits. Drane raised her children firmly and lovingly, greatly influencing her daughter’s character and vocation. Gonxha’s religious formation was further assisted by the vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart in which she was much involved. At the age of 12, she decided that she wanted to be a missionary and spread the love of Christ. At the age of 18 she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

After a few months of training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin Mother Teresa came to India on 6 January 1929. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught geography and catechism at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. On 24 May 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity.” From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching at St. Mary’s and in 1944 became the school’s principal. A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters and her students, Mother Teresa’s twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy.

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.
Ziauddin, who has always loved learning, ran a school in Swat adjacent to the family's home. He was known as an advocate for education in Pakistan, which has the second highest number of out of school children in the world, and became an outspoken opponent of Taliban efforts to restrict education and stop girls from going to school.
- See more at: https://www.malala.org/malalas-story#sthash.HeRonBMh.dpuf

Anu Sridharan

Anu sridharan

Founder and CEO of NextDrop, a social enterprise that deals with the problem of water supply in urban areas. Launched in 2011, NextDrop keeps the residents informed about the timely water supply and also provides for better management of water supply in order to save it. Anu has also been selected to the Forbes “30 Social Entrepreneurs Under 30” list.

Kirthiga Reddy

The social network: Kirthiga Reddy
40, Director Online Operations, Head, Facebook India

Because: She heads the India division of the world's largest social network with over 800 million active users. Because since Facebook set up an office in the country in 2010, the user base went up from eight million to over 40 million people in less than two years.

Because India is Facebook's third-largest market and has an average growth rate of more than one million people per month. Because Facebook users represent the youngest and most attractive market segment in the country.

Through the looking glass: 2011 was an important year for her as she strengthened Facebook's operations in India, which included building a team, as well as making an outsized impact in the serving of global users, developers and advertisers.

Culture first: "From hackathons to new traditions like Bollywood dancing, culture was the fabric that wove us together. Through our community initiatives we touched the lives of over 1,000 million students and we also leveraged Facebook to support NGOs like Olympic Gold Quest, which grooms the next league of Olympic champions."

On the Radar: She wants to maximise the Facebook India vision to drive global user, developer, and advertiser success through bold innovation, operational excellence and leadership. "My personal goals are to lead programmes to mentor the next generation of women leaders and trek to the Everest base camp," she says.