A woman who was called a “Dalmatian” by cruel trolls because of her rare skin condition has since learned to embrace her look and has become a model.
Dancer and model Bailie McGloin, a 23-year-old from Manchester, developed the rare skin condition vitiligo when she was just eight-years-old.
Those affected by the condition lose the pigment in their skin, leaving patches of bright, white skin.
For Bailie, this made growing up a challenge.
At school, she was singled out for her skin condition, and was asked by her classmates if she was a cow and if her condition was contagious.
Trolls would tell Bailie that she looked like a Dalmatian and that she should "go back to the pound".
Others would say that her stomach looked like "pancakes with bubbles". Bailie would often get into fights with people to prevent further judgement.
Whilst these comments hurt Bailie, the ones that made her feel the worst were those from people trying to be polite.
She was told by friends that her vitiligo "wasn't that bad" and to "put sun cream on" so that she didn't develop more spots.
When in public, Bailie noticed strangers staring at her which made her very self-conscious.
To mask her vitiligo, she would cover the patches of white skin that had developed across her feet and knees.
Bailie even applied foundation to the patches on her knees and would wear jeans in the height of summer to prevent the odd looks.
However, since leaving school, Bailie's attitude to her skin has completely changed. She realised that her funny and kind personality was what drew her friends to her as opposed to her looks.
Bailie decided that she was no longer going to hide her skin away and has since modelled for the likes of Gymshark, Zalando and Avon.
"When I got my first patches on my hands and knees, my mum took me to the doctors and then I was referred to the hospital where I was offered radiation therapy but my mum declined at that time," said Bailie.
"I don't remember too much but I do remember when I was old enough to be allowed on the internet I was Googling how to get rid of it.
"The hardest part about having vitiligo was always the stares.
"If people ever got the opportunity to ask me questions, they would just be simple questions but they would have a negative tone to them and it would be ones like 'Oh, it's not contagious is it?' or 'What is that?' or 'Are you related to a cow?' That upset me.
"People would say, 'Go back to the pound you Dalmatian' and 'Your stomach looks like a pancake with bubbles.'
"The stares were the main thing though. It was one of the main reasons I would put foundation on my knees or wear jeans in the summer - especially because nobody knew what it was really back then. I just received confused and disgusted looks.
"The comments that affected me the most were the ones that attempted to be polite such as 'It's not that bad' or 'Put sunscreen on so you don't get more spots.'
"It subconsciously did a lot more damage to me than just purely ignorant name calling.
"After school, I started to become friends with a lot more open minded people and artists who found beauty in everything weird and wonderful.
"I also started to become more aware of myself, how I came across to people, how funny and kind I was rather than what I looked like and I realised my confidence and personality attracted people more than my looks ever could.
"I then started to realise that I had been making choices and missing out on doing certain things because I didn't want to look the way I looked whilst doing it.
"I had a complete change in thought process when I just realised I don't have to be sorry for not looking normal, I wasn't offending anyone by having my knees showing.
"If people wanted to look at me disgusted, it would be something they would feel and I would be completely unaffected by the way another looks."
Although Bailie believes that the modelling world is doing a good job of bringing awareness and acceptance of skin differences, she believes that there is still a long way to go and continued education is key.
"Although the modelling and fashion industries are opening up now, it is still very hard to live with vitiligo and I would like anyone seeing it on the street to just not stare," said Bailie.
"Even if you're staring as a compliment, it causes a lot more damage than you would think.
"Comments made are always going to be both negative and positive, so you need to take both as what they are, opinions.
"People giving dirty looks will always happen especially outside of the western societies, the only thing you can do is understand that people would also stare at anything that isn't ordinary, it's ok and it lasts a second.
"Continuing to educate people is the way to tackle this issue.
"Once people know what vitiligo is, they're going to be less surprised by what they see."
