By Rebecca Drew
MEET the stunning young woman who is embracing the bulbous keloid scar on the side of her face, saying she will never hide who she is despite getting pointed and stared at when out in public.
Student, Nartessia Hart (20) from Thomson, Georgia, USA, first noticed her keloid scar which started out as a stress bump when she was just fourteen after the death of her grandmother. Nartessia picked the bump and it eventually morphed into a much larger scar.
After suffering from low self-esteem for years, it wasn’t until her close friend tried to take her own life that Nartessia decided to embrace her beauty and grow her confidence to motivate other people, including her friend who attempted suicide. She has had her scar removed twice before and it grew back bigger. Now she says she would only get it removed again if it was guaranteed not to return.
“It runs through my mom’s side of the family, at first it was a stress bump but I kept picking at the bump with my nails and next thing you know, it was a hole,” she said.
“For a while I never wanted to do anything with myself in high school but somehow I felt like my confidence would motivate people. I had a close friend that was so stuck on people calling her ugly and fat. She actually tried to take her life, we grew closer and the way I dealt with my confidence and self-esteem grew off on her.
“I’ve never tried to cover it up, as you can tell through the pictures, it’s just a matter of knowing who you truly are on the inside. Whether it was on my face or another place that’s noticeable I wouldn’t ever cover who I am.
“I had low self-esteem for a very long time. Somehow, I outgrew it, most people still do look at me funny but I’m always able to just ignore it.
“I have had my scar removed twice and it actually grew back bigger. My mom recently asked me did I want to remove my scar for my twenty-first birthday that’s coming up. I still haven’t given her the official say so.
“It’s like a fifty-fifty chance. It may never grow back or it could grow back bigger.
“I’m happy within myself right now if I had a chance to remove it and it never coming back, I would. As far as people coming in my face trying to touch, people pointing, people making jokes, I even have family that’ll ask me in front of people at family events, ‘is the scar getting bigger,’ or ‘How come I won’t get it removed’ and everyone would just stare at me.
“I’m only twenty and being that I have been provided with the strength to carry my own weight. There’s nothing society or anyone could pressure me into doing, if I’m not comfortable with it.
“I’ve had it happen twice but, I’m older now and being that I do realise how evil the world and social media can be. I wouldn’t care who wanted me to remove the scar.”
Nartessia has a close circle of friends who all support each other and look past her scar. She wants to show others that everyone is beautiful in their own way.
“I have some friends who are very supporting and majority of the time they look past my scar, I surround myself with people who uplift one another and don’t bring each other down. I’m very thankful for them,” she added.
“I always say, ‘the crown don’t tilt’ and it doesn’t. I try to make people know no matter their colour, size, weight or height that nobody is perfect and we’re all beautiful and unique in our way.
“If there’s something you’re insecure about never let anyone talk you into feeling so down about yourself that you feel as though you have to satisfy this world.
“Everyone is unique in their own way.”
For more information see www.instagram.com/speakingoftessia
