A 20-year-old student who struggled to finish high school because of the severe bullying she received due to her appearance claims to have rediscovered her confidence after going under the knife. Lauren Whitt of Evergreen, Colorado underwent constructive surgery on her jaw after she was bullied intensely by other students who would call her a "witch" and "ugly."
Lauren's deformity led to her having an enlarged chin, meaning that she had difficulty eating and found it hard to breathe and speak. After transferring to another school in order to get away from her bullies, the abuse continued, leading to Lauren completing her education online.
It was recommended that she got surgery at the age of 12 to deal with the class three underbite and underdeveloped jaw. But, after delaying the treatment, her condition worsened within three years.
In order to get the deformity repaired, Lauren had both jaws broken and then put back together using 36 screws and bone grafted from her chin. Not only did the surgery reduce the size of the chin, Lauren can now breathe properly and her lisp has fully disappeared.
The criminal justice student said: "I could not live life like that any longer. It was making me miserable.
"I waited until I was an adult to get the surgery because I did not want to go through something so painful as a kid.
"I hadn't been able to bite into anything properly since I was a kid. I felt constant pain in my jaw every single day.
"I had a lot of trouble breathing and it kept getting worse. It got to the point that I couldn't breathe without my mouth being open.
"My speech therapist told me that my lisp could not be fixed through speech therapy. I noticed shortly after the surgery that it was gone.
"I was brutally bullied for years because of the way I looked, so this is a major confidence booster."
Before undergoing the procedure, Lauren had to wear Invisalign for nearly a year so that her teeth would straighten out. However, due to the deformities in her jaw, the braces created more pain and suffering.
"Preparing for it was one of the most difficult parts.
"The Invisalign caused even more pain and made it nearly impossible for me to chew. I lost eight pounds and before the surgery, and I was already thin."
Because of the extent of Lauren's deformity, the surgery took nine hours when it should've taken four.
"My surgeon told me that my underbite was the most severe he had ever seen.
"He said that this was one of the most complicated surgeries of his career."
Lauren's recovery was hugely complicated, with the bone graft failing and causing infection, leading to further surgery. Another bone also cracked, leading to a third procedure. Then, most recently, a tooth died and she had to have her gums cut open so the tooth could be repaired from the inside.
"I had a pretty rough recovery. I woke up swollen and miserable.
"Because of my complications, my recovery has been ten times worse than it should have."
Due to the fact she couldn't eat any solids, Ms Whitt's weight dropped to 113 pounds, which is 22 pounds less than her healthy weight. But, she can now eat by cutting her food into small bits and is starting to enjoy burgers and pizzas.
"It's going to be pretty cool when I'm finally able to eat a burger again without cutting it up."
Despite the complications, Lauren is glad she went ahead with the surgery.
"It's been my most awful and most rewarding experience so far.
"Anyone considering this surgery should do it because it can change your life."
Fair play to Lauren for going through the operation and transforming her life. There's no doubt her new appearance is a nice two fingers to all those bullies as well.
