“Boys are usually the first ones to comment when they see me. They say things like, ‘You look like you’re dirty, take a wash’.”
Ciera Swaringen has endured cruel taunts like this her entire life.
The 18 year old was born with a rare skin condition called Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, which affects just one in 500,000 people and causes large moles and birth marks to appear on the skin.
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Swaringen’s birth marks cover two thirds of her body, with the largest of them stretching from her belly button down to her lower thigh. In an interview with The Daily Mail, the US teen recalls being frequently bullied for the way she looks.
"One day I remember being on the school bus and hearing a young boy laugh at me and call me a 'spotty dog'," she says.
"That really knocked my confidence, I was only young and it made me feel different to the other kids, like something was wrong with me."
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As she's grown older, Swaringen has learned to brush off the negative comments and inevitable stares from strangers, saying, "[I] remember that most people stare and say cruel things because they're not used to seeing someone with my condition." (Post continues after gallery.)
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Growing up in a North Carolina town of just 600 people also benefited Swaringen, because her peers know her and have come to understand her condition.
"People in my town don't bat an eye when they see me now, as they know me. But if I go somewhere new, it's not so easy," she tells the Mail.
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The love and support of her family members has also helped Swaringen, who recently graduated from high school, embrace her birth marks. When she started school, her mother told her they were "angel kisses", a comment that's stuck with her since.
"And my dad is the first person to stand up to defend me if anyone says anything horrible to me," the shoe store clerk adds.
While some people who are born with birth marks opt to have them surgically removed, doctors have told Swaringen this isn't an option for her because of the number of marks she has.
She says her existing birth marks are "constantly growing" and she often notices new ones developing. Although her moles pose no health risk, Swaringen has to be diligent about sun safety as her condition puts her at a heightened risk of developing skin cancer.
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Ultimately, Swaringen says she feels proud to be different.
"At the end of the day, we all have something about us that's unusual, whether it's on the inside or the outside. Everyone is born to look different, and we should all feel beautiful in our own skin," she says.
Have you ever been bullied for the way you looked? How did you move past this?
