Can you imagine having so many happy moments in your life… and you couldn’t smile? Unfortunately, some can’t, and here are 10 stories of people who cannot smile.
1. In Greater Manchester, 51-year-old Cate Wallwork suffers from a rare syndrome that causes facial paralysis. She has not been able to smile since she was 17.
Her rare syndrome – called Melkersson-Rosenthal – affects about 8 people in every 10,000 in the U.K. She started showing signs of it during her childhood, but by the time she was 17, both sides of her face were completely taken over by the syndrome.
2. In Shrewsbury, England, Justin Reese is only 9, and he was born with Moebius syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes complete facial paralysis.
It’s gut-wrenching for his mom, Jessica, when he asks, “Why can’t I have a smiley face?” He will sometimes ask her to put special filters on his phone when taking pictures so he can have a smile. He has only recently realized that he’s different.
Says Jessica: ‘It’s very difficult to explain to a child when they can’t do something that everyone else can do.”
3. 11-year-old Daniel Lord, of Northumberland, England, has battled cancer, and now, he may never get to smile again.
Daniel, a sea cadet, developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma on his brain, which is very rare, and while going through all the surgeries and chemotherapy, the nerves in his face have been damaged. Doctors may not be able to reverse it.
With everything going on in his life, his mother, Joanne, calls it a “horrendous roller-coaster from hell.”
4. Elisa Relyea of Hyde Park, New York, is 48. She was born without the ability to smile, nor was she able to make hardly any other facial expression.
Her days in school were typically bad, because others didn’t understand that she could just not control the muscles in her face. She too was born with Moebius syndrome.
She has gone through several surgeries and can now produce a slight amount of movement in her face. She tries using hand gestures and inflections in her voice to compensate for her lack of expression.
Her dad had the same condition. Elisa’s young son, Caleb, also was born with it.
5. 34-year-old Amy Guy, of Southhampton, also cannot smile. She has myasthenia gravis, which can weaken all of her muscles, including those in her face. Anyone who meets her might just think she’s miserable, but she’s just not able to smile.
Even on the happiest day of her life… her wedding… she could not show the rest of the world how truly happy she was.
When she was 14, Amy started experiencing slurred speech, and there was aching in her joints. Not long after that, her smile was gone.
Says Amy: “I was just a schoolgirl… and I was so embarrassed.”
Unfortunately, there is no cure for what Amy has.
6. A savage dog attack ripped the muscles in 7-year-old Aaron Kudray’s face as he was playing outside one day. And now, he cannot smile.
The young boy, of Greater Manchester, also received injuries to one of his arms when the boxer-bull mastiff mauled him. His parents were furious that the dog’s owner wasn’t prosecuted, although the woman did voluntary have her dog put down.
Aaron’s parents are hoping surgeons can help their son get his smile back. The young boy also now refuses to play outside.
7. 5-year-old Maddox Perales of Marietta, Georgia, was dropped by a doctor just after he was born. His parents believe this is why he is not able to smile. The moebius syndrome he developed can be caused by extreme trauma.
His parents are now trying to raise $100,000 to pay for a facial reanimation surgery. Perhaps a certain doctor could give up a few paychecks for that.
8. Joshua Burdell is 3 and suffers from Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy, which has left him severely disabled and without the ability to make facial expressions.
Doctors did not believe he would live past a year after being born with the rare disease. His mom also has the disease and cannot care for him, but a nurse who cared for him at the hospital, Sarah Ruane, has adopted him.
Sarah has put in a lot of time researching the disease and looking for answers, and because of her tremendous efforts, Joshua will be included in the first clinical trial for a drug that could cure his condition. And wouldn’t that be something…
9. Back in 2008, a bad car accident almost claimed the life of Bethan Robertson-Smith of Wales. She survived, but she did suffer full facial paralysis.
Bethan was in a coma for two weeks after the crash. When she awoke, she couldn’t move her face. Every one of the 40 muscles in her face was paralyzed at the moment of impact. Her mouth remained open and one of her eyelids would not close.
Those were fixed, but she could still not smile. Bethan has since had a surgery which gives her hope, and she can now raise the corners of her mouth.
10. 50-year-old Tess will sit stone-faced with her friends as they carry on and laugh out loud during their Friday night get-togethers. But no smile and certainly, no laugh, from Tess. As a matter of fact, Tess hasn’t lifted those lips to the slightest of grins for 40 years.
But Tess is quite a bit different from those in our previous stories. She has trained herself not smile, and the reason is purely out of vanity… because without smiling, no wrinkles form on her face.
Says Tess: “Yes, I am vain and want to remain youthful. My strategy is more natural than Botox and more effective than any expensive beauty cream or facial.”
And yes, it’s plain to see that Tess has an extremely youthful face at her age.
