People dont understand, 'I have a tumor, that's all'

An Ontario teen who made headlines when she fought back against cruel bullies who mocked the disfigurement on half her face now has her own television special.Sarah Atwell suffers from neurofibromatosis, a condition the 17-year-old was diagnosed with at 8 months, and the tumor it caused to grow on just one side of her face elicited cries of ‘fat face’ and ‘slut’ from ruthless schoolmates for years.But in 2012, Atwell fought back. She posted a video to Facebook in which she made her intentions to live a happy life clear no matter what the bullies called her.

She’d dealt with bullying all her life and at 16 she was fed up.‘I was in grade three and people were calling me names like 'fat face' and 'ugly' and were pushing me around,’ Sarah told ABC News. ‘They said I had a disease. Most of the time, I just walked away and didn't say much to them.’This night in 2012, she decided to say something. Using notecards, she wrote out everything her life with neurofibromatosis, and the bullies who came with it, made her feel.‘I have a tumor, that’s all,’ says a card the teen holds for the world to see.‘I wish people could understand there is nothing wrong with me,’ says another.But people weren’t trying to understand, something the video makes heartbreakingly clear.‘I get called names all the time,’ reads a card. ‘Bitch, slut, fat face, fat, ugly…it hurts.’‘Maybe one day the bullying will stop, but until then I’m going to be STRONG,’ one of the last cards says.Satisfied, Sarah posted her video to Facebook and went to bed.‘The next day I got up and my inbox was over 1000 messages or more from people,’ Sarah said. ‘It felt pretty good.’Among what was likely the millions who saw her video was someone from Discovery and the channel has documented a very exciting, and scary, part of the young girl’s life.