An Article By The Good News Network...
A man living with a facial disease has quit his job to focus on helping children who are bullied for being different.
Amit Ghose was born with neurofibromatosis type 1, a condition that causes tumors to grow along nerves.
But the 34-year-old took a “leap of faith” recently when he quit his role as a regional manager at a law firm, in favor of pursuing a career as a motivational speaker.
At the age of 11, Amit had his left eye surgically removed in a grueling 18-hour procedure which left him wearing an eye patch for six months, while his prosthetic was developed—all of which invited cruel abuse and shunning from his classmates.
“With Halloween coming up, a kid said to me: ‘You don’t need a Halloween mask, you’ve got one for life,’” he recalls. “That comment absolutely broke me, I still think about it every Halloween.”
Amit, who is from Birmingham, England, said he now channels this experience when he is talking at schools.
“I tell school children to be mindful of what they say to others, as what might be banter for them was a lifelong scar to me.”
While Amit acknowledges that many schools cannot afford to pay his half-day fee of $300 for talks (£250), he has set up a GoFundMe page which has, so far, raised more than $3,900 (£3,000) to provide them for free.
Fortunately, Amit was encouraged to play sports in his youth, and took up cricket. He made it onto his school’s team at Selly Oak Academy—and now advises students to do the same.
“Nobody wanted to talk to me or sit next to me (until) I went from the boy with a funny face to the boy who plays cricket.”
Amit was encouraged to give his first speech when his manager at work asked if he would speak at his daughter’s school.
After his first talk, Amit saw an article written by the mother of one of the boys who heard his talk. He had undergone multiple open heart surgeries and a heart transplant.
After hearing Amit’s talk, the boy, Vinnie, came home from school feeling inspired, with plans to take up football and become a motivational speaker some day.
Amit says, “It moved me to the point I quit my job and decided to do this full time.”
His father had always encouraged Amit to live a normal life, and he stood up for his son when others voiced concern about the safety of playing cricket.
“He would say: ‘If he wants to play, he’ll play.”
Other areas of Amit’s life would also become a success. In 2021, he met a woman originally from India, and the pair fell in love and got married.
He is also a global advisor to Billion Strong and an ambassador for Face Equality International.
Who knows how many other students’ lives will be changed forever, inspired by his resume of overcoming adversity and reaching for success.
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