A WOMAN who was born with fluid-filled cysts on her face was called a monster and mocked by 10,000 strangers – but now she feels “happier” than ever.
Indira de Rooij, 25, was born with a lymphatic malformation – in which lymph vessels form abnormally – after her parents noticed something was wrong with her face.
The cysts were on his chin, tongue and throat and he required a tracheotomy to help him breathe and over 30 surgeries to reduce the deformities.
Indira put off the operation because of the risk of facial paralysis when she was of school-going age.
She has finally accepted what she looks like, but has had to endure years of harassment and says cruel kids would take pictures of her.
She was even trolled on X (formally Twitter) when a post comparing her, aged 16, to a monster with a facial deformity – garnered 10,000 likes.
Indira has undergone a lot of therapy and now feels the happiest she has ever been.
Indira, a nurse from Almere, the Netherlands, said: “I went viral when I was 16. I was compared to a movie monster with a facial deformity.
“It got 10,000 likes.
“There isn’t a day that goes by when people don’t look at me and laugh at me.
“I have almost accepted myself and how I look.
“No matter what I look like, people will always be mean.
“I have never been happier than I am this year.”
Indira was diagnosed when she was just a few hours old.
She said: “My mum noticed there was something wrong with my face.
“They noticed I was having trouble breathing.”
Indira had to undergo emergency surgery to perform a tracheotomy as the cyst had blocked 70% of her airway.
She was in hospital for three months – during which time her heart stopped twice and she had to undergo multiple surgeries to remove a cyst from her chin.
Indira said: “The larger abnormalities are the size of a ping-pong ball, but some parts you can't even see with a microscope.”
“Eventually they stopped doing it because of the risk of becoming paralyzed.”
Indira's parents insisted she be sent to a normal school, but at age 12, Indira began to pay attention to the reactions of strangers.
He said: “He has always said that no matter what is going on outside, he has a brain.
“Around the age of 12 or 13, I noticed people looking at me and staring.
“They started taking pictures of me.
“You get a bit anxious. It was very tough on my mental health.
“My photos were going around.
“People were looking at me and laughing at me.
“It feels so disrespectful.”
At the age of 16, a stranger found a photo of Indira and posted it on Twitter – comparing her to a monster.
Indira said: “Then I went to therapy.”
As an adult, Indira underwent several surgeries to correct her deformities, but her condition is now stable.
Her deformity has no effect on her day-to-day life – except that she cannot swim and still has to breathe through a hole in her windpipe.
Indira is looking into alternative ways to remove the cyst – such as through medication.
She said: “I don’t want to undergo any risky surgery.
“I'll never be 100 per cent satisfied with the way I look, because we all have certain standards of beauty, but it's something I have to live with.”
Indira hopes to give confidence to others who are affected by visual differences.
He added: “I think it's very important to accept yourself. There will always be people who won't accept you.
“If you have big dreams and you have a disability it doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
“No one thought I would work as a nurse or live the life I do now.”
