US teenager bullied for having a big nose
given free cosmetic surgery Fifteen-year-old girl who was terrified of
going outside has £7,000 operation to
'balance out her face' Renata who received free nose surgery from the
Little Baby Face Foundation after she was
bullied.  A fifteen-year-old girl from the South Carolina,
USA, who was bullied for her looks has been
given a free nose job by a charity which claims to
“empower children”. Renata appeared in beauty pageants when she
was a child, but by sixth grade she had become
withdrawn. The teen, who has not disclosed her
full name or hometown, was called “the girl with
the big nose” by her tormentors. She became so terrified of going out in public
that her parents decided to teach her from home
after she told them she did not want people to
see her. “I'm just afraid I'll never have any friends or
anyone to be there for me,” Renata told US
network NBC. She is set to appear on the Dateline NBC Little Baby Faces report alongside other teens who have turned to surgery to deal
with bullying. The teen had the $7,000 (£4280) operation
after her mother contacted the New York based
Little Baby Face Foundation, a charity which
provides free plastic surgery for children that
they claim have birth defects. Dr Thomas Ramo said that the group he founded
is contacted by hundreds of children requesting
operations every year. “We can't go after the bully - but we can try and
empower the children,” Dr Ramo told NBC. After meeting with Renata, he agreed to perform
the surgery as well as a cheek implant to “balance
out her face.” Little Baby Face claims to not provide "cosmetic"
surgery, but, rather, surgery to correct birth
defects. Renata’s mother dismissed accusations that the
surgery sends the wrong message and equated
the procedure to having braces for teeth.  "I dont think it's sending the wrong message –
[Renata] still sees what she sees in the mirror and
it has an effect on her self-esteem and confidence
regardless of what anyone says." She added: "Parents crack children's teeth with
braces to make their teeth straighter - they're still
the same kid on the inside. Unfortunately people
are judged on how they look." Following the operation, Renata says she feels
confident enough to return to school. "I think if [the bullies] see you getting the surgery
to fix something that they teased you about it
would make them feel bad and maybe it would
change their mind about doing it," she told the
programme. However, Psychologist Vivian Diller who speaks
on the programme opposes using "elective
surgery as a response to bullying". "Is there some benefit for learning to struggle
against adversity?" she said.