Girl Born with Red Nose Was Cruelly Called Rudolph for It – Now at 15, Shes a Gorgeous Teen

A girl from Slough, Berkshire, was born with a unique facial feature that made her stand out. The attention she got wasnt pleasant or affirming, leading to her parents choosing a drastic method to correct it.

Before Connie Lloyd was born in Slough, Berkshire, a 26-week scan showed an unexplained shadow on her nose. However, when she was welcomed in September 2008, she looked healthy without any apparent issues.

By the time she was a day old, Zara Green and Tom Lloyd noticed that she had a pronounced red mark on the tip of her tiny nose. The couple initially assumed it was a pressure mark left behind from the delivery.

However, two weeks later, the mark had darkened and become lumpy, but they were told it was a common birthmark. When she was a month old, the spot had grown by one and a half inches in diameter.

Green recalled how amazed they were when they saw their daughters nose and that she looked different, but they still knew it was little Connie. The couples general practitioner referred them to the Great Ormond Street Hospital, where they saw a specialist.

Their daughter was diagnosed with a benign tumor called haemangioma. The little girl had to struggle with having a bright red “clowns nose” – something she didnt choose – fully evident when she was four weeks old, and the birthmark was growing internally too.

Greens daughter found it difficult to look different and only wished to look more like her mother. Her parents didnt know that without the mark, Connie was destined to grow up to be a gorgeous young girl years later.

How Did Connie’s Looks Change?

Connie endured being teased, taunted, and called names from birth because of her condition. Green dreaded her child being chosen to play Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer in a Christmas play because of Connies rare condition that didnt have a cure.

The tumors growth left her parents “constantly worried” because doctors said she could bleed to death if she cut or grazed the mark. Tom and his partner found treatments that stopped the tumor from growing more prominent, but nothing could eliminate it.

In 2011, Connie became the eighth baby in the United Kingdom (UK) to try using Propranolol to stop the tumor from growing larger. The prescribed medicine was usually used for people who had heart conditions.

When the little girl was 18 months old, she told her mother she didnt like her nose, which was difficult for Green to hear. The parent wanted to do more for her child, and her daughters adverse reactions at preschool eventually pushed her to act.

She and Tom started looking for second opinions and options for removing the birthmark. Connies mother noted how the other children in her daughters playgroup because curious about her condition and would prod it, which the little girl found “very upsetting.”

During a final class picture, the school photographer even asked Green if they could airbrush out their daughters birthmark! The parent found the request offensive because Connie was who she was, and they loved every bit of her.

When the childs mother realized her daughter would spend all her school years going through that torture, she knew they had to do something soon. She and her partner searched until they found Dr. Iain Hutchison, a surgeon specializing in treating facial disfigurements.

In March 2011, he operated on little Connie to remove the tumor and left her with a small scar, despite the procedure not being recommended for children under ten. Green confessed that before having surgery, her baby had been shy around people who commented on her nose and pointed to it. The little girl even turned her head because of how self-conscious she was.

Visiting Hutchison was also a nightmare for the family and their child, and her mother would hide her in the car to prevent people from making mean comments. Toms partner said waiting for hours for Connies surgery to conclude felt like the most extended wait ever.

However, the results were fantastic when the little girl returned, saying her “nose was like her moms.” Connie was doing well and had attracted a large group of friends, leaving her parents feeling proud!

However, the student brushed the nasty comments off…Advertisement

By 2013, Green still wondered what her daughters schooling wouldve been like if she hadnt received the surgery. The parent mulled over whether her child wouldve felt comfortable and if making friends wouldve come easily to her.

What Is Connie’s Life like Today?

By December 2021, Connie was 13 and was working as an advocate to raise awareness for a birthmark charity in the UK, Saving Faces. Her parents were wrongly informed that her mark would fade when she was younger, but it got bigger and darker as she aged.

Despite the surgery, Green said her daughter was still teased, but she was empowering herself by using her experience to help others. Part of the reason why Connie had the surgery at age two to remove her tumor was that she started struggling to breathe, with her mother stating this about her heroic child:

“If by telling her story, Connie can help just one child or family cope with facial disfigurement, thatll be the best Christmas present ever.”

As shes grown, Toms daughter shows a surprisingly mature attitude to her scar, despite other children choosing to be unnecessarily cruel. Connie didnt physically have the red mark anymore, but since we live in the age of the internet, her school friends and other people could still find her childhood pictures online.

Green revealed that even as a teenager, her daughter still had bullies who came up to her and shouted “Rudolph” at school. However, the student brushed the nasty comments off, with her mother saying:

“She owns her scar and is happy and confident just the way she is.”

User comment dated August 21, 2022 | Source: Facebook/Connie Lloyd

She was now putting her focus on raising awareness about birthmarks and raising funds for the charity that was dedicated to the reduction of facial injuries. Connies mother revealed that she only wanted everyone to feel loved in the skin they were and equal.

Read alsoParents Hid Babys Face to Shield Her from Stares — Now, at 2, She Looks Gorgeous After SurgeryDr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Star Jane Seymour, 73, Showcases Her Figure in White Swimsuit, Drawing Mixed ReactionsJohn Schneider Married New Girlfriend 1 Year after Their Both Spouses Died – Who Is She?

In August 2022, Connie shared a Facebook photo of herself posing in the backseat of a car with sunglasses on and a pout. Her nose scar was barely visible, and one supportive follower described her as “gorgeous.”

Months later, in December 2022, Greens daughter uploaded another black-and-white image of herself. In the Facebook post, she wore glasses, a jacket, a shirt, and a tie, and she looked like she was pouting.

The same follower who called her “gorgeous” in her August post used the same word to describe her, and Connie replied with gratitude. Another person used the same word to describe the teenagers looks, while a third thought the young girl looks “so pretty.”

User comments dated December 13, 2022 | Source: Facebook/Connie Lloyd

In 2011, Green shared how she and her partner had no regrets about getting surgery for their daughter, noting how they “100 percent” knew they wanted to do it for their child. She hoped when their child matured shed thank them for the operation.

Toms partner confessed that they had no idea what wouldve been left of Connies nose or how bad the scaring would be, but they considered the risks thoroughly. Seeing their little child in a hospital bed left them distressed, but when they saw the results, they were thrilled.

Green thought her daughter looked like a different child but knew it was little Connie. The parent hoped other mothers knew that treatment was a possibility and encouraged them to go out looking for it.

ShareAdvertisement