Bullied 14-Year-Old Girl Gets Plastic Surgery to Fix Ears, Nose, Chin

[fgg]

Bullied 14-Year-Old Girl Gets Plastic Surgery to Fix Ears, Nose, Chin


At first glance, 14-year-old Nadia Iles exudes an air of confidence that many other girls her age lack. That confidence is hard won.

Teased about her big ears since she was 7 years old, Nadia found school a nightmare. Her classmates tormented her, and she couldn't bear to look at herself in the mirror.

"I felt horrible. I felt like I was like dirt," she said, in an interview with "Good Morning America." "They said that I have the biggest ears that they've ever seen. They called me 'Dumbo,' 'elephant ears.'"

The teasing and bullying escalated, and Nadia, of Cummings, Ga., started to believe the negativity.

"I kind of got into this shell and I actually skipped school a lot," she said. "I made excuses. I would say my stomach hurt, say that I was sick even though I wasn't."

Nadia would cry a lot on the way home from the bus stop and at night before she went to sleep. It got so bad that Nadia even contemplated suicide.

"I actually did think about suicide but I wasn't pushed, I didn't really want to. I didn't think that was the solution," she said.

Nadia's troubles came as a shock to her mother. Because Lynda Iles had recently been laid off, and had a 9-year-old son, Joshua, who was battling cerebral palsy, Nadia didn't want to bother her mother with her problems.

"I'm heartbroken about it," Lynda Iles said, speaking of her daughter's torment, including her thoughts of suicide. "I didn't realize that it was that bad. She would mostly say that she has migraines."

Eventually, Nadia told her mother everything and begged for surgery to pin her ears back. Lynda Iles couldn't afford it, so she turned to the Little Baby Face Foundation, a Manhattan-based organization that provides free surgery for children with facial deformities who have a financial need.

Dr. Thomas Romo, the president of the organization, found Nadia's story compelling.

Romo operated on Nadia in June. He pinned her ears back, and also operated on her nose and chin. Romo performed $40,000 worth of work for free.

Asked if they were concerned that operating on Nadia conveyed the message that other bullied children needed to have plastic surgery, Romo replied: "She wasn't picked to have her surgery because she was bullied. She was picked for her surgery because of her deformities."

Lynda Iles added: "It was just something that we chose to do. It's no different than somebody having teeth that require braces."

Nadia no longer has a problem looking at herself in the mirror.

"I see a new me, a beautiful girl," she said.

For years, Nadia wore her hair down to cover her ears. When she starts her first day of high school today, she will likely wear her hair up.

Asked about how she felt about the bullies who tormented her, she said: "I forgive, but I don't forget."

Bullied 14-Year-Old Girl Gets Plastic Surgery to Fix Ears, Nose, Chin | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!

my heart breaks for this girl.

before and after pics at the link.

[MsChiff]

^I agree.. my gosh worried about surgery at 14

[greysfang]

[DeadDwarf]

I knew a girl obsessed with her body, she had her ears pinned back at 14 and when she turned 18 she had two more surgeries. One of them included breast implants. Her mother was a wreck and had body issues.

This girl was hardly ugly and really didn't need 3 surgeries at 14, I think it's just going to cause her to obsess about other parts of her body. Therapy would probably benefit her more.

[Brah]

Poor girl, to go through that bullying, it really messes you up. At least she's happy with her surgeries, I hope it stays that way, and that the bullies don't choose a new thing to pick apart and cause insecurities in.
Unfortunately any plastic surgery runs the risk of being a slippery slope.

[witchcurlgirl]

So the kid went in for the ear surgery and they basically told her "hey kid, the ears aren't the only thing wrong with you"

I don't really like the message here in a few different ways.

[Charmed Hour]

And the doctor called them "deformities"?!?

[sputnik]

it's good surgery though. she still looks like herself, the doctor just pinned back her ears and straightened her nose and chin which were a bit wonky.

that said, i definitely have issues with a lot of this story.

[Brah]

it's good surgery though. she still looks like herself, the doctor just pinned back her ears and straightened her nose and chin which were a bit wonky.

that said, i definitely have issues with a lot of this story.

Yes, when it said "fixed nose and chin" I was expecting something a lot more extreme, the results are well done. The only thing I'd worry about is she may still be growing so the results may change, I had to wait till I had stopped growing before I could get an osteotomy, because if I grew it could affect the results. But in the end, the surgeries were subtle and thank goodness she's happy with them.

[Laurent]

Poor girl, to go through that bullying, it really messes you up.

Yeah, I feel very bad for her. Being bullied for appearance stays with you.

And I agree that the work was good - she still looks like herself. The nose and chin misalignment may have caused some sort of medical problems with breathing and her jaw alignment/bite.

[witchcurlgirl]

This surgery won't stop the bullying, because the bullying wasn't really about her ears.

[nancydrew]

Shit all the girl needed was a better hairstyle. The surgery was unneeded. Poor girl.

[Ravenna]

This surgery won't stop the bullying, because the bullying wasn't really about her ears.

I always kind of figured that if the other kids don't like you, they'll find something to pick on you about, and if they do like you, they will accept your big ears or your stupid name or your crummy fashion sense or whatever.

Maybe I'm wrong and the bullying will stop. I hope so.

[Melyanna]

It's the bullying that needs to be addressed and changed, not the girl's ears.

[gas_chick]

I think it is horrible she is bullied but I couldn't cosign for her to have surgery at 14. Damn.