Bullied Teen's Plastic Surgery 'Exactly What I Wanted' (VIDEO)
Nadia Ilse, 14, has been through more than many teens her own age. Taunted since she was 7 years old, she became a target for bullies, but now Ilse has had surgery on her ears, nose and chin in order to stop the bullying and lead a more normal life.
"I felt horrible. I felt like I was like dirt," Ilse told "Good Morning America." "They said that I have the biggest ears that they've ever seen. They called me 'Dumbo,' 'elephant ears.'"
Eventually the young girl, pushed to her limit, thought about ending her own life in order to end the torment.
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"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," Ilse explained.
Ilse would feign illness to skip school and do all that she could in order to avoid being out in public and around her bullies. Finally, her mother, Nadia, contacted the Little Baby Face Foundation, an organization that helps children with facial deformities by providing free surgery.
Dr. Thomas Romo chose Ilse and provided $40,000 worth of surgery for no cost but insists his decision had nothing to do with her bullying.
"She was picked for her surgery because of her deformities," he told ABC News.
"I look beautiful. This is exactly what I wanted, I love it," Ilse told Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN. She is now a happy teenager eager to show herself to the world. "Give your children a lot of love and affection and tell them that they're beautiful every single day," she encouraged parents.
It's estimated that nearly 90,000 minors underwent cosmetic surgery in 2007, and many of those were due to bullying. Bullying has seemingly escalated in recent years, with several victims choosing to leave school and start fresh somewhere else, going through plastic surgery, or, tragically, ending their lives.
Watch Ilse speak about her experience here:
