Pāhonoa te oro

She was born without a muscle above one eye, which meant she couldn’t blink. So doctors lifted her eyelids and placed a tiny sling beneath the skin. That sling was linked to her eyebrow muscle, so whenever she raises her brows, it pulls her eyelids open, and when she relaxes those muscles, her eyelids close, letting her blink. But her eyes still looked different, and while growing up, she was bullied for it until she shared her story online and finally discovered real support.