HER high school years were nothing short of a nightmare. Kids would ask if she had leprosy, wonder why her sister had beautiful skin when she was “so hideous” and always gave her a wide berth.
The lesions on her face that had always plagued Annetjie de Wit worsened when she was a teenager and the taunting and stares made her life a misery.
“It hurt. A lot,” she says. “Children don’t have filters.”
Annetjie has a debilitating genetic skin condition called neurofibromatosis that causes non-cancerous tumours along the nerves in her skin.
As a teen, she kept to herself, her days filled with pain and loneliness.
“I didn’t really have friends,” Annetjie (59) says. “I so badly wanted someone to tell me I was beautiful. Or that they liked me. Or that there was a boy who wanted to kiss me, like the other girls. But who would want to kiss me?”
At the time doctors said her skin problems were caused by issues with her kidneys.
“I was on many different medications, but nothing helped. My mom spent a fortune on beauty products to hide the lesions, but they didn’t really help either. So I accepted it and thought there was nothing we could really do about it.”
Things haven’t been easy as an adult for her either. Strangers gawk at her and for years she avoided going out.
“I became a recluse because it wasn’t pleasant to go out, not even to the shops. Do you know how it feels when people stare at you? It’s not nice, man. Not at all.”
When YOU meets her and her sister Fransien Niemand (65), Annetjie’s face is swollen and blood red but she’s beaming broadly.
Soon, she tells us, she’ll be pretty. “Well, about 80% prettier,” Fransien teases.
Annetjie’s new look will be shared with the country as she undergoes cosmetic and dental procedures in the VIA reality series Dr. Nou!
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
BALLON IN THE BAG
Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football
IT WAS ALL A LIE
A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country
AGREE TO DISAGREE
Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book
PAUSE THE CLOCK
Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down
MPOOMY ON TOP
We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok Nǎka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court
MATT THE RECLUSE
A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight
A LEAP OF FAITH
After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it
