People with this rare skin condition often receive hurtful comments from others. This man from New Jersey was no exception, but he defied all odds and is now a model.
Twenty-four-year-old Curtis McDaniel, from Bordentown, New Jersey, was bullied in school when white speckles started appearing on his skin. This was caused by vitiligo, a skin condition that causes skin cells to stop producing pigment.
People would call him names when they saw him.
“They would call me burnt lips, Michael Jackson, zebra, giraffe and people thought I was contagious—I had a lot. Girls would ask if I was burned and would say ‘Ew’ whenever they saw me. I was a spectacle everywhere I went, I once had kids running out of a store crying when they saw me and was called a ‘monster,’” he continued.
However, things took a turn for the better when he was 17 years old.
“Before I used to think my skin was a curse, but now I realize my skin is a gift, it’s allowing me to influence people. Once I had this new outlook on my skin, I stopped getting so angry and started to smile more,” he said.
He was scouted as a model in 2015 after he uploaded a selfie online. He is now a part-time model.
McDaniel then posted the picture on Instagram before leaving for school. Soon after, the picture went viral, as a supermodel had posted it. Photographers then reached out to him for photoshoots.
From then on, his modeling career took a turn and he started to appear in a few magazines. He was even featured on MTV True Life in 2017.
He told Caters News Agency: “Before, I hated having my picture taken and would hide from the camera, so to me I never would have believed I could model, to me it was a complete no-go.”
“Modeling was something that just fell into my lap one day, but it’s given me a platform and when I saw the impact it could have I changed my mind about it completely. Now I use my exposure and platform from modeling to help and inspire others,” he added.
On changing his mindset, he said: “It’s all a process, confidence isn’t something you just get, you’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and change your mindset. Skin is so materialistic, you have to love who you are and to find something you love about yourself on the inside, that’s important.”
He further added: “ I am flawed and imperfect, speckled and spotted, but God has a way of covering our imperfections and seeing beyond them to see true beauty. When you’re #perfectlyflawed the blemishes don’t matter, knowing who you are—even better, whose you are—gives you that godfidence. Nothing can take that from you.”
