“世界上最醜的女人”出書勵志 走出陰影擁抱人生

She has been ridiculed, stared at in the street and called 'the world's ugliest woman' by insensitive cyber bullies.
她不斷被嘲笑，走在街上就被人盯着看，還被麻木不仁的網絡暴民稱爲“世上最醜的女人”。

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，經過這麼多年的痛苦和自我懷疑，莉齊·貝拉斯克斯說自己最終能夠看開了，那些傷人的話僅僅是一些單詞而已。

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).
貝拉斯克斯來自德克薩斯州的奧斯汀市，她生來就沒有脂肪組織——這意味着她沒有任何人體脂肪，即使她現在每天少量多餐差不多60頓，骨瘦如柴的她也僅有58磅（約爲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.
在新書《Be Beautiful, Be You》中，這位23歲的大四學生分享了關於如此特別的她如何交友的經驗，以及如何應對遇到的歧視和消極態度。

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".'
當問到總在路上被盯着看時怎麼辦，貝拉斯克斯說：“我已經開始想要走向這些人，然後向他們自我介紹並且遞上名片說：‘嗨，我是莉齊，或許你應該開始學習，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.'
貝拉斯克斯談到，當那些網絡暴民開始在網上攻擊她時，她其實特別難受。“我也是人，這些事當然會傷害我，（但是）我不會讓這些事左右我。”

Eventually Miss Velasquez realised the people issuing the hurtful comments online were just cowards hiding behind a computer screen.
最終貝拉斯克斯意識到，這些不斷在網絡上口出惡言的人，只不過是一些躲在電腦屏後面的膽小鬼。

Miss Velazquez has now written a second book about her struggle to be accepted and hopes it will help others in a similar position.
現在貝拉斯克斯已經完成了她的第二部書，希望通過這本書講述她如何努力讓人接受自己的奮鬥史，來幫助那些相似處境中的人。

Miss Velasquez was born four weeks prematurely weighing just 2lb 10oz. Doctors found there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb.
貝拉斯克斯早產4周，出生時只有2磅10盎司。醫生還發現當時子宮裏只剩很少的羊水在保護她。

'They told us they had no idea how she could have survived,' Miss Velasquez's mother Rita, 45, a church secretary, said.
“醫生們跟我們講，他們都不知道貝拉斯克斯究竟是怎麼活下來的，” 貝拉斯克斯的45歲的母親麗塔這樣說道，她是一個教堂祕書。

'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.
“我們只能從玩具店裏給她買玩具衣服，因爲嬰兒的衣服都太大了。” 醫生們無法診斷，只能讓貝拉斯克斯的父母做最壞的打算。

'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. “
“醫生說她永遠不可能會走路和說話，不可能擁有一個正常的人生，” 她的母親說道，她的父母還生有另外兩個孩子——兩個孩子都是正常的身高和體重。

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.
貝拉斯克斯的病例引起了世界上的許多醫生的注意，在達拉斯的德克薩斯西南醫療中心，她的病例是由阿比曼紐·加格教授進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.
加格教授及其團隊現在認爲貝拉斯克斯可能是患有新生兒型類早衰症（NPS），這種病症會加速衰老，導致身體和臉部的脂肪喪失以及組織衰退。

He said: 'I am aware of a small number of people that have similar conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different.
他說：“我發現到只有極少數人和莉齊有類似的情況，但每個病例都會有些許不同。”

'We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future, as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.
“鑑於醫療組織還沒有更老的NPS患者的記錄，我們無法預見莉齊未來還會發生什麼。”

'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.'
“不過幸運的是莉齊擁有健康的牙齒、器官和骨骼，因此相貌還不錯。我們會持續研究她的病情，從中獲得信息。”

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.
貝拉斯克斯不用吃藥但是要靠補充維他命和鐵來維持健康。目前認爲她還是能夠自然懷孕，並且不會將病症傳給她的孩子。