When Nebraska natives Lukas Caldwell and his twin brother Ben Caldwell were born, the boys experienced happy-go-lucky childhoods until Lukas’ life changed when they turned six. Lukas’ facial features started to become markedly different than his brother’s, making him look entirely different.
As soon as his parents started to notice some discoloration on his face, they grew increasingly worried and began taking him to see a series of doctors to find out what was going on. The young boy would suffer from facial cramps, pain, migraines, and poor vision.
Unfortunately, Lukas’ turmoil didn’t end with his physical symptoms, as he would get relentlessly ridiculed at school. The now-adolescent recalled how bullies would make fun of him:
“The other kids would call me names like, ‘half face.’ They would also insult my appearance and call me ugly, causing me to develop anxiety and insecurities which I still deal with today.”
Lukas also revealed how his torment was not confined only to the classroom space and, in fact, would follow him wherever he went. Remembering another moment in which his self-esteem was impacted, he spoke about an incident when he was nine when he was standing in a check-out line at Walmart.
Upon reaching the front of the line, a Walmart cashier began to laugh at him. Then she proceeded to tell him that his face looked funny and asked him what happened to it. Disheartened and hurt, Lukas could not think of anything to say, so he kept quiet.
Lukas was diagnosed with Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS), which is a rare condition that causes the depletion of soft tissue in the face over time. The ailment only affects one in every group of 250,000 people and is characterized by facial bones becoming brittle and changing in form in time as the fat and muscle in the face shrink...CONTINUE READING