“世界上最丑的女人”出书励志 走出阴影拥抱人生

She has been ridiculed, stared at in the street and called 'the world's ugliest woman' by insensitive cyber bullies.

她不断被嘲笑，走在街上就被人盯着看，还被麻木不仁的网络暴民称为“世上最丑的女人”。

But, after years of misery and self-doubt, Lizzie Velasquez says she can finally shrug off the hurtful comments about her looks as 'just words'.

然而，经过这么多年的痛苦和自我怀疑，莉齐·贝拉斯克斯说自己最终能够看开了，那些伤人的话仅仅是一些单词而已。

Miss Velasquez, from Austin, Texas, was born without adipose tissue - meaning she has no body fat and, despite eating up to 60 small meals a day, remains at a delicate 4.4stone (58lbs).

贝拉斯克斯来自德克萨斯州的奥斯汀市，她生来就没有脂肪组织——这意味着她没有任何人体脂肪，即使她现在每天少量多餐差不多60顿，骨瘦如柴的她也仅有58磅（约为26公斤）。

In Be Beautiful, Be You the 23-year-old college senior shares advice on being unique, how to make and keep good friends and how to deal with bullying and negativity.

在新书《Be Beautiful, Be You》中，这位23岁的大四学生分享了关于如此特别的她如何交友的经验，以及如何应对遇到的歧视和消极态度。

When asked how she deals with being constantly stared at in the street Miss Velasquez said: 'I'm starting to want to go up to these people and introduce myself or give them my card and say, "Hi, I'm Lizzie - maybe you should stop staring and start learning".'

当问到总在路上被盯着看时怎么办，贝拉斯克斯说：“我已经开始想要走向这些人，然后向他们自我介绍并且递上名片说：‘嗨，我是莉齐，或许你应该开始学习，而不是盯着我看’。”

Miss Velasquez said when cyber bullies first started attacking her online it was hard. 'I'm human... of course these things are going to hurt... (but) I'm not going to let those things define me.'

贝拉斯克斯谈到，当那些网络暴民开始在网上攻击她时，她其实特别难受。“我也是人，这些事当然会伤害我，（但是）我不会让这些事左右我。”

Eventually Miss Velasquez realised the people issuing the hurtful comments online were just cowards hiding behind a computer screen.

最终贝拉斯克斯意识到，这些不断在网络上口出恶言的人，只不过是一些躲在电脑屏后面的胆小鬼。

Miss Velazquez has now written a second book about her struggle to be accepted and hopes it will help others in a similar position.

现在贝拉斯克斯已经完成了她的第二部书，希望通过这本书讲述她如何努力让人接受自己的奋斗史，来帮助那些相似处境中的人。

Miss Velasquez was born four weeks prematurely weighing just 2lb 10oz. Doctors found there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb.

贝拉斯克斯早产4周，出生时只有2磅10盎司。医生还发现当时子宫里只剩很少的羊水在保护她。

'They told us they had no idea how she could have survived,' Miss Velasquez's mother Rita, 45, a church secretary, said.

“医生们跟我们讲，他们都不知道贝拉斯克斯究竟是怎么活下来的，” 贝拉斯克斯的45岁的母亲丽塔这样说道，她是一个教堂秘书。

'We had to buy dolls' clothes from the toy store because baby clothes were too big.' Doctors could not make a diagnosis so they prepared Miss Velasquez's parents for the worst.

“我们只能从玩具店里给她买玩具衣服，因为婴儿的衣服都太大了。” 医生们无法诊断，只能让贝拉斯克斯的父母做最坏的打算。

'They told us she would never be able to walk, talk or have a normal life,' said her mother, who has two other children with Miss Velasquez's father Lupe - both children are of average height and weight. “

“医生说她永远不可能会走路和说话，不可能拥有一个正常的人生，” 她的母亲说道，她的父母还生有另外两个孩子——两个孩子都是正常的身高和体重。

Miss Velasquez's case has fascinated doctors all over the world and she is part of a genetic study run by Professor Abhimanyu Garg at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

贝拉斯克斯的病例引起了世界上的许多医生的注意，在达拉斯的德克萨斯西南医疗中心，她的病例是由阿比曼纽·加格教授进行的基因研究的一部分。

Professor Garg and his team now believe Miss Velasquez may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome (NPS), which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss from the face and body, and tissue degeneration.

加格教授及其团队现在认为贝拉斯克斯可能是患有新生儿型类早衰症（NPS），这种病症会加速衰老，导致身体和脸部的脂肪丧失以及组织衰退。

He said: 'I am aware of a small number of people that have similar conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different.

他说：“我发现到只有极少数人和莉齐有类似的情况，但每个病例都会有些许不同。”

'We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future, as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.

“鉴于医疗组织还没有更老的NPS患者的记录，我们无法预见莉齐未来还会发生什么。”

'However Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the outlook is good. We will continue to study her case and learn from her.'

“不过幸运的是莉齐拥有健康的牙齿、器官和骨骼，因此相貌还不错。我们会持续研究她的病情，从中获得信息。”

Miss Velasquez doesn't take medication but she relies on vitamin supplements and iron to stay healthy. It is thought she should be able to conceive naturally without passing the condition to her children.

贝拉斯克斯不用吃药但是要靠补充维他命和铁来维持健康。目前认为她还是能够自然怀孕，并且不会将病症传给她的孩子。