A mother says her daughter receives daily compliments on her huge dark eyes - but says she struggles to know how to respond because they're the result of a rare genetic condition.
Karina Martinez, from Minnesota, has got used to people's admiration of two-year-old Mehlani’s brown eyes. However, they're actually caused by Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome, a rare eye condition that affects the development of the eyes, and glaucoma - conditions her mother told The Independent she was diagnosed with “at about a week old.”
Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome affects the cornea and the iris, while glaucoma can damage the eye’s optic nerves and result in blindness from increased eye pressure, as well make eyes appear larger - which required Mehlani to undergo surgery at five months old.
The surgery was successful in stabilising Mehlani’s eyesight - but now her mother has expressed her worries about the impact her daughter’s condition will have on her ability to fit in and feel “beautiful.”
In a now-viral Twitter thread, the mum wrote: “Every time we’re out and a stranger compliments on how big and beautiful her eyes are, I have a mental debate on whether or not I should mention her defect. I decide no, smile and say thank you."
“I’m always left with a weird feeling,” she continued. “I just pray she’ll always know how beautiful she is.”
According to Martinez, the thought of her daughter starting school makes her “so nervous,” and she worries what other children will say.
“What if she starts to hate her unique gorgeous eyes?” she wrote. “It makes me want to cry thinking about it because she’s so strong and sweet and been through so much already.”
To care for Mehlani’s eye health, Martinez told us: “Living with these conditions requires us to take her to regular check-ups to make sure her eye pressure is being kept down. If it rises again, it would cause more damage to her optic nerves."
To further protect her eyes, which are sensitive to light, Mehlani wears sunglasses whenever she’s outside.
Since sharing her fears over her daughter’s future, Martinez’s tweet has been liked more than 175,000 times - and prompted hundreds of people to comfort the mum.
“Looks like cute kid syndrome to me. Doing great mum!” one person responded.
Another said: “She’s perfect and if it ever comes up when she’s older, just remind her that everyone has something that makes them unique and different from everyone else.”
In response to the outpouring of support, Martinez shared a video of Mehlani saying “thank you” and “I love you” and wrote: “Mehlani wants to say thank you to everyone for their kind sweet words!
“She has no idea what Twitter is but I told her everyone loves her and thinks she’s beautiful.”
