The girl who can't smile THERE ISN'T ANYONE LIKE ME'

Sports-mad Tayla's caught the attention of our top rugby players

- Kasia Jillings

Standing on the sidelines, trading banter with ease as she interviews top Super Rugby players for her 40,000 online followers, Tayla Clement is in her element.

It’s a long way from her earlier years when she was relentlessly bullied for her appearance, leaving her so severely traumatised she suffered up to 10 seizures a day and made multiple attempts to take her own life. 

Tayla was born with Moebius syndrome, which affects the nerves in her face so it’s not possible for her to conventionally smile, move her eyes horizontally or raise her eyebrows. The condition is so rare, there are only one or two cases in every million.

For a long time, the condition ruled Tayla’s life as she suffered constant bullying, which she battled to hide from her parents Mike and Nicki.

Some of the worst moments were after a failed major operation at 12, where surgeons attempted to transplant nerves from her legs to her face so she could smile.

“I was hanging all my hopes and dreams on this surgery, thinking, ‘If I can smile, I’m going to have friends and not be bullied any more,’ and it really wasn’t the case,” recalls the 25-year-old.