Granard woman at the helm of British ad campaign
Twenty year old university studen,t Kellie Farrell from Granard has become one of the faces of a new British campaign to raise awareness towards, and acceptance of, people with facial disfigurements.
When the Longford woman was just two years old, the car in which she was sitting in suddenly burst into flames and she suffered severe burns all over her body. As a result, she has facial disfigurement but Kellie has never let her condition hold her back or prevent her from reaching her goals in life.
Speaking to the Leader, Kellie said that the Changing Faces charity, which is operating the new Face Equality Campaign, aims to raise awareness about disfigurement and promotes a very clear message in its title.
"We want to get disfigurement out into the open and we want equality in all aspects of our lives," she said. "We want equality in health, education and in policy decision and we want people to accept people with disfigurements just the way they are and not in the way in which society expects them to be."
The 20 year old student went on to say that she was the face of one of three posters which the Face Equality campaign intends to distribute throughout the UK this year.
"This campaign wants people to stand up and support everyone who has disfigurements. I want to be judged in a positive manner. I am accepting of the way I am and I am comfortable with that. I am content with my appearance and I want other people to be as accepting of me as I am of myself. I do not want to be judged because of the way I look," she said.
Kellie said that the campaign was going very well and that the organisation was succeeding in raising awareness and that people in general were very supportive towards the initiative. She went on to highlight that people with disfigurements were discriminated against and she said that she too had been the victim of such beahviour on occasions. "I have been discriminated against because of the way I look, but because I am happy and contented with the way I am, I don't let it bother me," she concluded.
Kellie Farrell is studying for a BA in Social Studies in Dublin. She has just finished her second year in universtity.
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Weather for Longford, Ireland
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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