A teenage girl revealed she hasn't left her house in years because she is bullied over her giant facial tumours.
Rubi Dulari, from India, has neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along nerves. There is no cure.
Her parents first noticed small lumps developing on her face when she turned three and the tumours have since grown.
The 18-year-old, whose mother and 'best friend' died four years ago, was constantly bullied at school and now fears she will never fulfil her dream to get married.
‘I have a terrible face,’ she said. ‘I have dreams like other girls to dress up like a bride and get married but nobody would want to marry this face.’
Dr Jaswan Shakya, a medical director and
surgeon at Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital, in Kathmandu, who has
operated on many neurofibromatosis patients, said: ‘The girl appears to
be suffering from a multisystem genetic disorder which develops tumor of
the nervous system.'People can live a
normal life with just day to day difficulties. It is usually not
painful but it causes difficulty in eating, drinking and speaking.’‘The
only treatment is surgery to reduce the size of tumour, but the
condition means the tumours will re-grow after a few years.’