At 20, Charlotte Hawkins was a pretty blonde with curly curls and a flawless complexion, but a terrible disease changed the woman beyond recognition, turning her into a monster.
As a teenager, Charlotte discovered a small growth in her lower back. Then she could not even imagine that this was the first symptom of a disease that would change her whole life.
Charlotte in her youth and with her first child
After 10 years, the woman was no longer recognizable - her face and body were covered with tumors. Today, a brave retired woman lives with the worst case of type 1 neurofibromatosis in America. The woman has been living with this disease for 49 years and is used to it, but admits that it was more difficult in her youth.
Charlotte, who lives in Trailer Park in Logansville, Georgia, said, “At first I was scared. I didn't know how people would react when they saw me. When I went out into the street, passers-by stared at me and I felt uncomfortable."
Charlotte was 15 years old when she first noticed the mysterious growths beginning to appear on her back. Soon she underwent surgery, during which benign growths were removed.
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“When I was about 15, a lump appeared on my face. I didn’t know what it was because I was still little, and the adults didn’t explain anything to me,”she said. “Later, another one appeared on my back and I went to the hospital for a couple of days to have it removed.”
After that, Charlotte decided that there was nothing more to worry about and mysterious neoplasms would never appear on her body.
“I got married and left home. When I was pregnant, the doctors said that the baby would most likely be normal. Fortunately, they were right, as we saw after the birth of Charles, - the woman recalls. - However, the growths soon began to return. My husband never said anything about my illness, but I got worse and in the end we parted."
As a result, doctors diagnosed Charlotte with a terrible diagnosis - type I neurofibromatosis. The woman's condition became so difficult that the growths could no longer be removed. As a single mother and suffering from depression, it became more difficult for the woman as people began to notice her condition.
A real psychological trauma for Charlotte was the case when a child in a supermarket, seeing her face, was very frightened. This incident caused the woman to spend many years as a hermit. For a long time, Charlotte led a secluded life, until the parishioners of the local church took up her problem and helped to return to society.
Now Charlotte is a happy grandmother of three children, writes Mail Online.