Taunts Over Smile, Student To Go Under Knife

A dance student bullied because of a condition that meant she could not fully smile has made an incredible transformation following two rounds of gruelling surgery.

Jayella King is now smiling from cheek to cheek after going under the knife to treat the facial palsy that caused bullies to taunt her with cruel jibes like "candle-wax face".

And the 21-year-old, who had surgery in 2011 and again a year later, is now so confident about her new looks that she is even planning to embark on a career on the stage.

A distressed Jayella, who was born with the condition, would sometimes be reduced to tears by the bullying. Most of the taunts came from boys mimicking her face.

Two incidents helped her to make up her mind to opt for surgery, despite being warned there was a small chance her whole face could end up paralysed.

On a night out with friends at a dance as a 15-year-old she turned round to see a boy mimicking her face.

Then a year later, when she was studying performing arts at college, she and a friend were taunted by a group of girls with the bullying going online.

The bullies were expelled after Jayella took screen shots of a Facebook page where the girls had called her “candlewax face” and her friend “Miss Piggy”.

During a seven-hour operation surgeons transplanted muscle from Jayella's armpit and a nerve from her leg into her face.

She has been left with prominent scars between her ankle and the back of her knee and under her armpit.

Jayella added: “They’re not as noticeable because obviously I wear clothes over them so unless it’s summer they don’t come out that much. No one tends to notice unless you point it out.”

She also has much fainter scars behind her ears and to the side of her neck.

Deputy chief executive of charity Facial Palsy UK Karen Johnson said the condition was rare and “isolating”. UK-wide more than 100,000 people are affected with more than 30 different causes.

Karen, who herself has facial palsy but in a milder form than Jayella, said when people are born with the condition it’s due to a developmental problem in the womb, damage in childbirth or a specific disorder like Moebius Syndrome.

This is an extremely rare neurological disorder leaving facial muscles paralysed or weakened.

Karen said whether people opt for surgery often depends on the severity of the condition.

She said: “There are always risks with surgery of scarring, so the doctors have to weigh up how much improvement they can make.

“These days the children tend to have the surgery younger so Jayella has probably had it quite late.”

Karen said evidence shows there is no relationship between the severity of the condition and the extent of psychological problems. Those with only mild facial palsy can end up more psychologically tormented than others who are severely affected.