Man Born with Venous Malformation Birthmark Told 'I’d Kill Myself if I Looked Like You'
There are as many unique individuals out there as there are stars in the sky. Just because someone looks different from the way a magazine or social media might portray beauty, doesn’t mean they’re any less valuable. After all, isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder?
One man from the U.K. is working to change the way beauty is perceived. Though he’s only 25, Rory McGuire has already done so much to help pave the way for others like him.
Diagnosed as an infant with a venous malformation birthmark, McGuire has spent most of his life as the target of unkindness.
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According to the Vascular Birthmark Center in New York, McGuire’s condition affects his blood vessels, resulting in a hindrance of proper blood flow. As a result, the vessels affected grow larger to compensate and regulate blood pressure.
“Most of my birthmark was removed surgically when I was around 4 years old,” McGuire told Love What Matters, “but due to the nature of the way the birthmark grows, it came back.”
For McGuire, the venous malformation birthmark just so happened to be on his face. It continued to grow until he finished puberty.
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“Growing up, I experienced a lot of bullying, name calling, prejudice, and negative feelings about myself and about life,” McGuire shared with Love What Matters. “For many years, I had a very low self-esteem. I struggled with how I viewed my own appearance and I didn’t know where my life was heading and if I was ever going to be happy.”
He was called names by his peers. Everything from “ugly” to “I’d kill myself if I looked like you” came from their mouths.
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The young man anxiously awaited the day he was old enough to have the birthmark surgically removed. When that time came, doctors told him it was too large to remove.
They were, however, able to give McGuire a treatment called sclerotherapy which he was told would gradually reduce the size of his birthmark.
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All the while, he continued to fear going into public places where people might stare or tease. When he finally opened up to his parents about how he felt on his 21st birthday, things began to shift for McGuire.
More sclerotherapy treatments continued and during that time McGuire found an outlet on social media. He shared his story on Facebook and soon learned that his experiences and feelings resonated with folks all over the world.
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Soon his birthmark size had reduced enough that doctors could perform the surgery McGuire had been waiting for. In the end, it was successful in removing a large portion of the birthmark and the young man’s confidence was boosted once more.
Now McGuire shares his story with the media and other outlets. He also advocates for two different U.K.-based charities — Changing Faces U.K. and Youmanity.
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“Documenting my experiences and telling my story has changed my life for the better, and having most of my birthmark removed gave me a further boost in confidence to do a lot of different things to tell my story,” McGuire said.
You can find out more about Rory McGuire by following him on Instagram. Remember, beauty has many faces. As McGuire noted, “nobody should ever judge a book by its cover.”
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