Woman Explains The Beautiful Reason She Wears A Glass 'Glitter' Eyeball
She's embracing her difference in the most creative way and is inspiring others to do the same.
Terelyuk / Balaguta Evgeniya / Shutterstock A woman is completely embracing her physical difference after losing one of her eyes at only 18 months old.
Now, she is hoping to help others who also have disabilities make the most of them in an inspirational way.
The woman created her own ‘glitter’ prosthetic eyeball to replace the one she lost as a child.
Rachel Mayta from Portland, Oregeon was only 18 months old when a doctor noticed a strange glow in her right eye that was noticeable in photographs. Further examinations revealed that the toddler had retinoblastoma, the most common type of eye cancer in children.
In order to prevent the illness from spreading, doctors had no choice but to remove Mayta’s right eye. Thankfully, she doesn’t remember much from the ordeal and she was declared cancer free after the two-hour surgery.
At 20 months old, Maytas was fitted for a prosthetic eye and has worn one ever since. However, the now 32-year-old recalls being teased by classmates for her looking physically different, being nicknamed “Cyclops.”
It wasn’t until her 20s that Mayta began to feel self-conscious about her appearance after a follow-up surgery to replace the implant holding the prosthetic eye in place made it more noticeable.
“Prior to this surgery most people wouldn’t have even noticed my eye, but afterward it was very apparent,” Mayta told The Sun.
As a result, Mayta suffered from self-esteem issues and a loss of confidence. “I was very aware of the people looking at me, I had people say mean things and talk to me differently”, she revealed. “I was so unhappy with how I looked that I really didn’t do much outside of the home for almost a year.”
A man Mayta had been seeing at the time confessed to her that her eye “freaked him out” after a few dates and claimed he could not see past it.
Mayta decided that in order to boost her confidence, she had to embrace her difference by creating unique prosthetic eyes.
Despite her struggles, Mayta one day came to a significant realization. “And then one day it hit me: I am who I am,” she says. “I made the active choice to stop saying mean things to myself and only allow myself to feed my brain positivity and tell myself good things.”
Part of Mayta’s decision meant getting creative with her prosthetics. Thankfully, she had the help of her talented oculist, Christina King from the Center for Ocular Prosthetics in Portland, who added a special touch to some of the prosthetic designs.
“They are full bling,” Mayta said. “I just get to focus on being me rather than looking normal.”
Mayta and King’s creativity was also inspired after Mayta met a little girl with retinoblastoma, just like she had as a toddler. “I knew I never wanted her to feel the way I was feeling about myself; I thought, ‘why am I allowing myself to feel that way?’” she shared.
Together, Mayta and her oculist created several prosthetic eyeballs, with the first being a gold crystal one.
“I had a gold crystal one and one with holographic mirrors,” she shared. “I had a brand new one made for my bachelorette party that looks like a turquoise stone.”
Later, Mayta decided to help others like her embrace their differences by starting a Facebook group called “One-Eyed and Wonderful." Through the group, she was able to connect with others who wanted to add bling to their prosthetic eyes and hosted fundraisers for those who wanted to get their own glitter eyeballs.
Mayta and King were able to help fund 43 prosthetic eyes. “For every $500 raised we get one prosthetic made,” Mayta added.
In addition to helping others obtain their own creative prosthetic eyes, Mayta documents much of her life on social media to display her collection of prosthetics and to end the stigma surrounding those with physical differences.
“I want others to see they are not alone, and it is something to be proud of. Own the fact you are different.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.