Lizzie Velasquez has known the torment of being mocked by bullies from around the world.
As
a 17-year-old surfing the web, she came across a video of herself on
YouTube that described her as the 'world's ugliest woman'.
The devastated teenager spent days shutting herself from the world behind a wall of tears, thinking her life was over.
But
now 26, the inspirational woman has hit back at the trolls with an
anti-bullying documentary about her life, describing her battle with a
rare condition which stops her putting on weight.
'A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story' premiers at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, today.
The 78-minute film charts Lizzie's inspiring path from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist.
Featuring
details of Lizzie's emotional and physical journey through the years,
it follows her progress as she attempts to lobby the US government for
the first federal anti-bullying Bill.
She was born with Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy, which is a problem with the way fat is distributed in the body.
At only 5ft 2ins tall, Lizzie only weighs 58lbs - just over four stone.
'All we had known all my life was that I had a syndrome which meant that I couldn't gain weight.
'At the time, I thought everyone looked like me.
'I didn't recognise or tell that they didn't look like me.'
First
bullied as a child in school for looking different, she was horrified
to stumble across a YouTube video labeling her 'The World's Ugliest
Woman' as a teenager.
The
video, viewed four million times, was accompanied by a cascade of cruel
comments about her appearance - and suggestions that she should have
killed at birth.
'It was afternoon. I decided to go look for music on YouTube - and that's when I found it,' she said.
'I don't even know why I clicked on it but I did and that's when I lost it.
'Calling
me a monster or asking why my parents didn't abort me... how in the
world can I forgive the people who told me to kill myself?'
She fought back by giving a TED Talk in 2013 which she says 'changed everything'.
'This is my purpose. This is what I'm meant to do for the rest of my life.
'I like to think that I'm not only telling my story, I'm telling everyone's story.'
Now, Lizzie's own YouTube channel, which boasts more than 300,000 subscribers.
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