A girl who was born with a large facial tumor refuses to look at herself in a mirror.
Her parents, Rose Esteves, 36, and Leonan, 38, said that their daughter, 6-year-old Vitoria, would not look at her face in a mirror after she realized that she looked different from her sister and other people.
Rose said that even though the large hemangioma has never hindered her daughter physically in her daily life, she wanted to boost Vitoria’s confidence.
“Vitória has always been full of surprises,” Rose shared. “Her haemangioma was a surprise to us and the entire medical team at the birth. Luckily, the haemangioma does not hinder her at all in day-to-day life and it is only aesthetic.
“She leads a normal life but of course we have to be careful that she doesn’t fall or hit her face, as this would cause considerable damage.
“Other than that, Vitória is a super healthy child and does not feel any pain in the hemangioma.”
According to Great Ormon Street Hospital, a hemangioma, also known as ‘strawberry marks,’ is a proliferation of small blood vessels in one part of the body.
When Rose noticed that Vitoria started liking photography, she decided to have some photoshoots to boost her beautiful girl’s self-esteem.
Vitoria’s confidence increased as she enjoyed styling her hair, applying makeup, and wearing trendy clothes, and in November last year, her mom shared photos of her on social media.
Thousands of people sent messages of support and commented on how beautiful the girl is. They also said that she is a great inspiration to others who are still suffering from self-confidence issues.
“From a young age she had some problems with her self-image and didn’t want her picture taken or to see herself in the mirror,” Rose shared.
“She always said she wanted to be like her sister and not have a haemangioma.”
Speaking about her decision to post pictures of Vitoria on Instagram, Rose said: “I decided to expose Vitória’s life on Instagram because we saw that she loved photography and taking pictures.
“As a mother I thought it would help her self-esteem and luckily that is what has happened. Vitoria is much more sure of herself which is amazing.
“The coolest comments we get are from people who also have a haemangioma similar to hers.”
The family hopes that the young girl will be able to undergo surgery to have the hemangioma removed.
“Vitória’s current treatment involves embolizations that aim to decrease the amount of blood reaching the haemangioma and then at some point she must undergo surgery to remove the tumour,” Rose said.
“The only thing I wish for my daughter is that she is happy and that she is very healthy. Everything else is secondary to these two things.”
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!