Short skirt, high heels, long flowing hair, skinny figure – from the back she looks like any other young woman. But as soon as she turns around, people are terrified.
Everything started 21 years ago when Irina Nezhentseva noticed deep wrinkles on the face of her newborn daughter, Katya. The baby’s face was aging significantly not only day by day, but hour by hour. Doctors diagnosed Katya with progeria, and were sure the little one wouldn’t live longer than a year. Irina’s husband, scared of his own daughter’s condition, abandoned both mother and child: “I can’t stand this kid” – was the last thing he had to say to Irina about their little girl.
Irina decided to move on with her life and to give her child the happiest childhood she could. She would treat every day as if it was Katya’s last.
But despite all the doctors’ prognoses, Katya continued to grow like any other healthy child. As she grew however, she had to endure teasing and insults from other children “grandma, why are you wearing a mini skirt” or “why are you pretending to be a kid, granny?!” Whenever she heard such cruel words, Katya would burst into tears.
But it was only when she finally had to go to school that Katya fully realized how different she was from the other kids. “Here I realized, that I’m not like others. Whenever I turned around everyone was scared of me,” she says. “I kept asking myself, what have I done to deserve all this? But I didn’t find any answers. Then I thought, I could win people over not with my face, but with my knowledge, cleverness, charm, and my kindness. I’m sure that the most important thing in a person is the soul.”
And that is exactly what she did. And the amazing thing is that people responded. Katya became a favorite at school, and anyone caught trying to bully her was quickly confronted by her many friends. “I accepted myself and learnt how to love myself. Think about it – there are only 20 other people like me in the whole world! That’s actually interesting!”
Katya’s joy astounds everyone who meets her and she grew up into a confident young woman. Her plans for life? Of course – to be happy!
Some girls her age are afraid of going out without makeup, but Katya doesn’t give it a second thought. Katya’s friends were not the only ones who were captivated by her charm and inner poise…
… Katya met her husband Denis in an unexpected way: he called her by mistake, having dialed the wrong number. They talked, agreed to meet and soon a romance began. When the couple decided to get married, Katya was the happiest bride you will ever see!
Soon, the couple had more news: Katya was expecting their first child! Skeptics criticized her decision to even consider having children, but Denis and Katya knew what they wanted. 9 months later they welcomed a beautiful healthy son into the world!
“I feel so good. Only self confidence helped me through all the difficulties I had to face. And now my husband and I have been rewarded with a beautiful son – what could be better?” says Katya.
Her story is a reminder that nothing and no one, even the worst medical diagnosis, can take away this sacred right from a person – the right to be happy.
