A student from the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey made the headlines after Stephen Hawking praised her portraits. Rebecca Dann stunned Hawking with her output for her third tear project.
Rebecca Dann may not be your average teenager, but she managed to face life in a positive aspect despite being flocked by criticism. The 22-year-old junior student made the deadlines after her self-portrait won a competition called "Disability Talk" with Stephen Hawking was one of the judges.
Rebecca Dann suffered from Kyphoscoliosis, which is an abnormal formation of her spine. She was diagnosed with the condition a t a young age, where it then evolved into something more crucial, which left her dependent and confined into a wheelchair.
During one of her interviews, news.au.com mentioned that Rebecca wanted to live a normal life, which prompted her to cover her disability under baggy clothes and grew her hair. Despite her condition, Rebecca was determined to find love, where she decided to join dating apps, but ended up in a negative way as she gathered backlash when she made her disability visible, which encouraged her to take a stand and speak up.
"I wanted to educate people about disabilities, about scoliosis and about how to accept yourself and love yourself for who you are and to not pay attention to what the media portrays as beautiful," Rebecca said during an interview. "My disability should not take away the fact that people say I'm pretty. I have been told before that I am pretty but 'it's a shame about your back' and that frustrates me. I also just wanted people to know that I am OK. I have my disability and that's fine, you shouldn't be afraid for me, you shouldn't be scared to touch me, I won't break."
Rebecca Dann's triumph inspired countless of children and teenagers with disabilities where she gave them hope and determination in reaching their goals. Do you know any inspirational story involving people with disability? Do let us know through the comment section below.
