Do you know when you wake up and don't like what you see in the mirror? The hair does not fit, the skin is not very cool, the clothes do not fit right?
There are days when it's hard to keep up your self-esteem, you know. However, we have to admit: often, we just do unnecessary drama, don't we?
Sure, no one likes chipping the nail polish or realizing it has a pimple, but when we look around, we can see that sometimes our problems are very small.
And this happens especially when we come across stories like Amanda Carvalho, a 19-year-old woman who had 57% of her body burned while trying to save her mother from the fire? that had been fired by his father.
A barbaric crime and a heroic attitude
Amanda's parents have been married for over 20 years. Her father had always been very jealous and aggressive, having beaten his mother many times. Until, in 2014, they finally broke up.
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On the morning of December 9 of that year, Amanda was talking to her mother when her father broke into the house and set his ex-wife on fire. Seeing her mother amid the calls, Amanda tried desperately to get her out of there. With that, the gasoline her father had thrown hit her as well.
Amanda reports that she ran to the bathroom and remembers nothing else. With 57% of her body burned, she spent one month in the ICU and two months in the hospital room. Her mother, unfortunately, could not resist the burns on 80% of her body. Her father hanged himself.
Guided by the medical staff, Amanda's three sisters only said that her mother was in very serious condition until the day the truth was revealed. But Amanda says she always knew what had happened, but wanted someone to confirm it.
Guilt and shame
The fire marks brought very sad memories to Amanda, but she says everything was even worse because her mother had passed away. Amanda started a treatment at a center that specializes in burns to recover her skin, and gradually she resumed her daily activities.
However, she felt guilty about what had happened, thinking that she could have done something more to save her mother. With the psychological accompaniment, though, did Amanda realize that none of this was her fault? even the scars proved that she had fought bravely and done everything she could.
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These burn marks, however, were a source of great shame to Amanda. She avoided going in front of mirrors and didn't wear short sleeved shirts. In order not to attract glances and encourage people to ask questions, Amanda avoided eye contact and even pretended to be deaf.
Acceptance through photography
After much suffering, Amanda realized that not loving herself was harmful only to herself. This attitude did not affect anyone else. Because of this, she started to leave the house more confident, wearing shorter clothes, and started to face the mirror every day until she accepted her body.
Amanda says that one day she saw an artistic nude essay that one of her high school teachers had done. She talked to the teacher, who put her in touch with the photographer.
He became interested in Amanda's story and wanted to photograph it. Seeing her photos ready, Amanda was thrilled and spent hours looking at them. Other essays followed this, and thus photography became part of the self-acceptance process.
Amanda decided to post her photos on Instagram and, over time, began to receive messages from other girls who talked about accepting her own body. With that, Amanda was able to turn the shame of her scars into pride and love.
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The trauma Amanda went through was very painful and she says she believes she will never accept what happened. But she managed to love her own body again and turned her scars into a shield. A lesson in self-esteem and self-acceptance that we can take for a lifetime.
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