Facing the Music

A YOUNG woman with a facial tumour is beating the bullies on YouTube – by singing.

MANY talented performers turn to Youtube to express themselves, but among the Adele covers and earnest acoustic versions of indie classics, Courtney Blackmore cuts a unique figure. Born with cystic hygroma – an extremely rare condition that causes growths in the chin and neck – the 20-year-old sends a message of defiance to bullies every time she hits ‘upload’. Courtney, who lives in Sonora, California had to have years of speech and language therapy as her tumour is so large that it prevents her from closing her mouth.

Yet despite this, Courtney has a pitch-perfect singing voice and has amassed a legion of fans online because of her beautiful sound.

“Singing is one of my outlets,” Courtney says. “Whenever I’m being bullied or going through a rough patch, I sing to express myself.”

Courtney has already undergone 20 different surgeries on the huge tumour in her face but she now says that she is comfortable with how she looks and will not have any more surgery unless it is an absolute medical necessity. But her unusual looks have meant she has struggled with a lifetime of bullying and although her Youtube videos are popular, cruel jibes are often found in the comment section.

“I have had people ask me, ‘Why do you upload? You know you are different. You know you are going to get hate,” she says, “But for me it’s an expression of me and it doesn’t matter what people say. It is my choice and if people don’t like it, they can just click the next video.”