Tayla Clement, 24, a girl from New Zealand, has Moebius syndrome (a neurological disorder) and since birth has been unable to move her lips or move her eyes from left to right. This rare syndrome affects the muscles that control facial expressions and eye movements. This prevents Tayla from smiling like a normal person.
“It wasn’t easy. For years, I hated my smile. I wished I had a normal face, but that didn’t exist,” she confided.
There is no cure for Moebius Syndrome, although the symptoms can be treated. At age 12, she underwent smile surgery. Doctors grafted tissue from her thigh to her face in an attempt to restore her smile. Not only was the surgery unsuccessful, it left her with swollen bruises.
Because of her strange face, Tayla was often bullied at school.
“I was laughed at all the time. My classmates would scream at me and say they were scared when they saw me, then run away. I felt isolated,” she recalled.
Not only did the “tormentors” taunt her, they also threw dirty things at her. On her 16th birthday, when her peers usually received balloons and cakes, she received “half-eaten chocolates”.
Due to a rare syndrome, she cannot smile (Photo: NYPost).
Even teachers were unfair to Tayla. “I was the only one in the class who raised my hand to speak, but the teacher just turned away and looked away,” she said. Not wanting to burden her parents, she chose to stay silent when she was bullied.
The constant bullying led Tayla to want to end her life. Between the time after her failed surgery and her high school graduation, she attempted to end her life six times.
The new page of life of “the girl who never smiles”
She was later diagnosed with clinical depression and severe anxiety. The stigma from those around her made her lose faith in life and feel worthless.
Tayla’s mother was a swimmer who had represented New Zealand at the Pacific Games. Tayla decided to pursue swimming in the hope of feeling normal. However, the time spent swimming took a toll on her health.
At the end of 2016, after missing out on qualifying for the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Tayla was exhausted and decided to end her involvement with the sport.
Thanks to sports, the young girl’s life has turned a new page (Photo: NYPost).
Instead of feeling bored, she continued to try her hand at the gym and walking every day. This helped her control her emotions better. Not long after, Tayla signed up to compete in the New Zealand Paralympic Athletics Championships.
In 2018, Tayla won the shot put at the Victorian State Championships in Melbourne. A year later, she competed at the New Zealand National Shot Put Championships, where she achieved a world record of 8.28m in the F43 category.
With this achievement, national and international media began to pay attention to the disabled female athlete. More words of encouragement and support helped the girl gain more confidence in herself.
On her Instagram page, which attracts more than 18,500 followers, she regularly shares inspirational stories.
“I think the surgery was a blessing in disguise, because not being able to smile is my greatest gift. It took me to rock bottom, but it opened up opportunities for me to rise up and succeed. Being an inspiration and hope to others is amazing,” Tayla shared.
