Yesterday, our interview with Sanika Hussain appeared in the Sun newspaper. The 21-year-old from Bradford has a condition called hypochrondism – a form of dwarfism, which affects the conversion of cartilage into bone – resulting in shorter limbs. But she has been so badly bullied over her 4ft 5 inch height that she has undergone drastic and painful leg lengthening surgery which involved having both legs broken.
She says: ‘People like me should be allowed to go about our lives without the fear of abuse. I want my tormentors see what they’ve done to me.’
In the interview, Sanika spoke honestly about her school years and explained how years of bullying drove her to have the painful eight-hour surgery which has left her unable to walk and housebound for almost a year.
But to Sanika, the pain she’s experiencing now during her recovery period is nothing to compared to the way she felt after being called ‘mini me’, ‘freak’ and ‘shorty’ by her tormentors.
We are now in the process of securing Sanika a magazine deal and arranging for her to talk about her experiences on a popular daytime TV show. Sanika wants her story to be heard to deter youngsters from picking on people with similar conditions.
If you’ve got a story you’d like to see heard, email us on message@talktothepress.com or fill out the sell my story form on the right.