Bullied For His ‘Looks’ As A Child, He Attempted Suicide Twice, Today, He’s A Children’s Doctor

Michael Goodman suffers from Treacher Collins Syndrome and had a difficult childhood because of this fact. When he was young, his friends bullied him because of his physical appearance and he tried to commit suicide twice. Everyone knows how harmful bullying is for each of us. You may have heard about different cases of bullying, but this case of Michael is special.

Living with facial changes is very difficult because you will have to face prejudices and differentiation from society. This is the sad but also inspiring story of Michael Goodman, who is now a pediatrician from Indianapolis, Indiana. He had a difficult childhood due to Treacher Collins syndrome.

This syndrome affects the physical appearance of people and causes facial deformities. Treacher-Collins syndrome is related to the development of bones and tissues in the face and causes deformations in them, causing the eyes, nose, etc. to look different.

People who suffer from this syndrome try to do their best to live normally and to get used to their condition. Michael was worried about his face and he stayed away from his classmates because they made him feel bad.

High school was very difficult for him and he says that during this period he started to lose his self-confidence. But he did not give up and today he is a successful doctor. He has a piece of advice for all young people who are in a similar situation as him. “Don’t let anyone define who you are.”

He works at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and wants to give a strong message to the language. The news of his story was shared on Facebook thousands of times and many people admitted that they were in the same situation.