21 years ago, Irina Nezhentseva gave birth to a long-awaited daughter.
But the new mother quickly noticed something wasn’t quite right.
Irina discovered her daughter, Katja, was developing wrinkles on her face.
As Irina perceived it, her child’s face wasn’t aging by the day, but rather by the hour. And Irina’s husband was so distressed seeing his daughter age so quickly that he left the family.
“I can’t stand the kid,” Katja’s dad said before taking his things and leaving.
Doctors diagnosed Katja with progeria an extremely rare disease that causes the body to age prematurely.
People affected with the syndrome live an average of 13.5 years, and few live past 16.
But mother Irina decided to not get discouraged and did everything she could to give her daughter a cheerful and safe childhood.
She treated each day with Katja as if it were her last, and showered the girl with love.
26 years ago, Irina Nezhentseva, of Novy Urengoy, Russia, gave birth to a daughter. Shortly after, doctors revealed that Katja, as Irina named her daughter, had a congenital genetic disease called progeria that causes the body to age about eight times faster than normal. The syndrome is extremely rare and affects approximately one newborn in 8 million.
Heartbreakingly, Katja’s father didn’t want anything to do with his daughter and left the family when he got the news.
Children with progeria usually look healthy at birth. And it’s not until they are 18-24 months old that their aging accelerates. Currently, there is no cure for the disease and most people affected by progeria die in their teens. But Katja is defying all odds.
Katja’s mother, Irina, decided to give her daughter all the love and care in the world. But it wasn’t easy. The other children in her neighborhood made fun of Katja and didn’t understand the wrinkled little girl. “Grandma, why are you wearing a miniskirt?” or “Why are you playing with little kids?” the children would ask Katja. Irina was devastated when she heard how her daughter was treated.
But it was only after Katja went to school that she realized how different she was from all the other children.
“Then, I realized that no one liked me. When I turned around and showed my face, people were frightened. I asked myself, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ But I never found an answer,” Katja told Hefty.
She continues: “I thought a lot about it. But if I couldn’t be accepted for my appearance, I decided to try to change my image by showing my inside. I wanted to show that I was also a charming and lovely girl, with a lot of nice features. I’m sure that the most important thing is the human being inside.”
And that’s exactly what she did. The amazing thing was that people began to look beyond Katja’s disease. She became a favorite in the school and students who harassed her were quickly confronted by Katja’s many friends.
“I accepted myself and learned to love myself. I thought There are actually only 20 other people like me in the world. It’s actually very interesting!”
Katja’s joy surprised most people she met. She grew up to be a confident, young woman with dreams of the future, just like anyone else. Her biggest goal in life? To be happy.
When she was 21, Katja defied the odds again.
She met Denis in a somewhat unexpected way—he called her by mistake after dialing the wrong number. The two started talking, and then agreed to meet. Soon, they were in love. And when the couple decided to marry, Katya was of course delighted.
Soon, the couple had wonderful news. Katja was pregnant and expecting their first child! Some people were skeptical about her decision to have the baby, but Denis and Katya knew what they wanted. And nine months later, they welcomed a beautiful, healthy little son to the world!
“I feel so good and I’m glad that I’ve had the confidence to help myself through all the difficulties I’ve faced. Now, I have a husband and I’ve been rewarded with a beautiful little son, so what could be better?” says Katja.
Katja’s story is certainly an important reminder that nothing — not even the worst medical diagnosis — can take away our human right to be happy.
Share this story if you are happy for Katja and if you think that more people should have the chance to read her amazing story. Beauty comes from within!
