Activist Lizzie Velasquez poses for a portrait for A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story. Photo / Getty Images Portraits
Activist Lizzie Velasquez poses for a portrait for A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story. Photo / Getty Images Portraits
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 makes its debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
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.
"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.
Lizzie Velasquez, aged 3. Lizzie, now 26, has a rare and undiagnosed syndrome that prevents her from putting on weight. Photo / Barcroft Media
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.
"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.
Speaking in a video posted to her channel ahead of her documentary's showing today, she said: "I'm so excited, I can't even tell you.
"I finally was able to sleep and I'm feeling rested and ready to go."
Director Sara Hirsh Bordo said: "Bullying is a subject that historically yields heartbreaking stories of hopelessness and in many times, loss.
"Rarely is there a story of survival and inspiration that continues to crossover ages, genders, and ethnicities... enter the brave story of Lizzie Velasquez."
The pair met when Ms Bordo asked her to give the TED Talk, which attracted more than 10million viewers.
"She was a local hero whose time, we found out shortly after, had arrived," she added.
"We live in a culture of tremendous meanness. And few people have experienced it more than Lizzie.
