The moment we learn how to love ourselves with all our flaws is the moment we really start to live our lives to the fullest.
Being born with a condition that distinguishes us from the rest of the world can be extremely challenging, and many people go through such struggles. The thing is that different doesn’t mean less worthy or less beautiful, and the moment we experience that enlightenment and realize we are perfect the way we are everything changes for the better.
Karine de Souza, a 33-year-old woman from Brazil, was diagnosed with Xeroderma Pigmentosum when she was three years old. This means she’s at high risk of developing skin cancer and her skin gets covered in lesions even after a few minutes after being exposed to sun. As a result, she has been forced to use SPF100 sunscreens at all times, even when she’s at home.
Over the years, she has undergone 130 surgeries to have her lesions removed, and sadly, she ended up with a part of her nose and her lower lip removed.
“When I expose myself to the sun it doesn’t happen in the moment, I don’t feel anything. However, in the future, the lesions appear and need to be removed because of cancer,” she says. Sadly, her condition, which is “one in a million” is incurable.
Today, however, despite her condition, Karine was able to find love in a man named Edmilson whom she met through social media and married recently. The two welcomed a baby daughter together and he accepted her three children from her previous relationship as his own.
Karine is happy she found her happy ending. “He came and he showed me that I could live a true love story,” she said.
Sadly, she still faces mean comments and people calling her names and accusing her of being her husband’s ‘sugar mommy.’
”We have already read many offensive comments calling me a monster, deformed, a zombie,” Karine said, as per the Daily Mail. ”Because of the fact he’s a young man and pretty, that caught people’s attention and they didn’t believe that he was with me because he really liked me,” she added.
The photographer who took the couple’s engagement photographs shared a series of images with the caption:
”In a world where appearance matters more than the feeling, they met not by chance, but by a gathering of souls, an encounter of acceptance and character and love emerged when their souls met and today you are the inspiration to so many people who do not believe in themselves, in life and especially in love.
“THANK YOU every day for being who you are. STOP complaining for being like you are. HUG LIFE, and accept yourself. Much gratitude for teaching me so much. You guys are AMAZING. You are the missing hope in so many people. Thank you for the big hug, and for the wonderful day we experienced together. I carry your smile with me forever.”
His heartfelt words and beautiful photos of Karine and Edmilson soon went viral and caught the attention of many who took their time to congratulate the happy couple.
”Be happy, smile, because life happens only once,” Karine said.
For more on this brave woman’s story go to the video below.
We are glad Karine found the love of her life and the happiness she deserves.