Lizzie Velasquez
Elizabeth Ann “Lizzie” Velásquez is an American motivational speaker and author. She has a rare congenital disease which, among other symptoms, impedes her from accumulating body fat. This condition resulted in bullying during her childhood and early youth and ultimately inspired her to take up motivational speaking. She has gained many supporters and speaks out against bullying. Lizzie was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome by the Baylor College of Medicine.
Velásquez has zero percent body fat and is medically unable to gain weight. She has never weighed more than 29 kg (64 pounds), and is required to eat many small meals and snacks throughout the day. Additionally, she is blind in her right eye, which began to cloud over when she was four years of age, and vision-impaired in her left eye. Ever since Lizzie was dubbed the “World’s Ugliest Woman” in a video posted on YouTube, Lizzie has spoken out against bullying. She has spoken at TED, where she talked about the topic of “How Do YOU Define Yourself” and has garnered 40 million views on her YouTube Channel.