Woman Who Couldn't Smile Since Birth Turns Instagram Sensation

A woman in New Zealand was born with an extremely rare medical condition that left her unable to smile. Over two decades later, she turned into a para-athletics record holder and an Instagram sensation.

Tayla Clement, 24, faced numerous struggles and brutal bullying at school. Born with Moebius syndrome, a one-in-a-million congenital condition that prevented her from smiling or moving her eyes side to side, Clement also has a club foot and limited ankle movement due to her unusual condition, New York Post reported.

The Moebius syndrome causes weakness or paralysis in muscles and primarily affects the muscles that control facial expression and eye movement.

Although Clement's condition has no permanent cure, she has undergone treatment to reduce the symptoms. However, surgery to correct her smile at the age of 12 failed miserably, leaving Clement with a swollen and bruised face.

“I got laughed at,” Clement said describing the bullying she faced after surgery. “Kids would scream in my face and say that they were scared of me but then would run away laughing. I felt super isolated,” she said.

Facing constant bullying at school, Clement developed suicidal thoughts and is said to have attempted to take her own life six times. At the age of 18, Clement was diagnosed with severe clinical depression and anxiety with PTSD and had to give up her swim team.

Later, Clement was contacted by Para Athletics of New Zealand and ended up representing the country at the Victorian State Championships in Melbourne in 2018 where she took the no. 1 spot in the shot put throw event. The following year, she broke the world record in the F43 classification while competing in the New Zealand National Championship.

Despite all her struggles, Clement feels confident that she was born to make a difference in this world. She has retired from sports and now tries to motivate people who have facial abnormalities through her Instagram page that has more than 18,000 followers.

“It’s not always been easy," Clement said. “I’ve spent many years hating my smile, wishing I had a ‘normal’ smile, wishing I just didn’t exist because that seemed easier than being alive, but by some miracle, I’m still here,” Brinkwire quoted her saying.