Man bullied for facial disfigurement has embraced his uniqueness and found love

A man born with a facial disfigurement, who worried he would never find love, has shared how he chose to embrace his physical difference and is now happily married.

Amit Ghose, 33, a regional manager for a law firm, from Birmingham was born with neurofibromatosis type 1, a condition that causes tumours to grow along the nerves.

He lost his left eye when he was 11 and wore an eye patch while waiting for a prosthetic eye, which lead to him being bullied at school.

Despite the challenges he faced growing up, Amit says he's "always" tried to embrace his disfigurement, choosing to feel positive about his condition.

However, overhearing distant family members commenting on his looks at family weddings caused him to worry his chances of finding love may be impacted.

But after being introduced to an Piyali, 26, by a family friend in May 2021, he's never looked back.

Watch: Amit Ghose hopes to raise awareness of facial disfigurement

Finding love

As Piyali is from India, the duo initially spoke over video call and immediately hit it off, with Amit thrilled to discover Piyali didn't care about his appearance.

Less than a year later, in December 2021, the couple tied the knot in India.

"I worried that people judged me for my appearance, rather than judging me as a person," Amit explains. "But from the moment I said hello to Piyali and introduced myself, we clicked.

"She'd seen some photos of me but it didn't bother her, she just spoke to me as if she was speaking to any other person."

Despite knowing his disfigurement wasn't an issue for Piyali, Amit admits to only showing half his face while video calling.

"She said to me 'I'm not going to get married to half of your face', which was a defining moment for me," he says.

Piyali, a make-up artist now living with husband, Amit, in Birmingham, says: "When he hid his full face, it annoyed me. "I didn't associate him as a face, he's a person.

"When I saw his full face for me it was normal," she continues. "It was him as a personality. I was shocked when he took his prosthetic eye out, but I was intrigued rather than disturbed by it."

The couple only met for the first time in person just before their wedding, and Amit said he was "scared" about what Piyali's reaction would be.

"My family were worried that she would reject me when she saw me," he explains. "I asked her how she felt when she saw me and she said she felt just as she did on our video calls."

Raising awareness

Now, during Face Equality Week (15- 19 May 2023), Amit is sharing his experiences of living with a disfigurement as part of the #WeWillNotHide campaign, which aims to combat the stigma and encourage people to embrace difference.

"For me it's about education and talking about it," he adds.

Piyali says she is "proud" she can support someone looking to make a difference.

She says: "If I can help keep him happy and motivated, I'll be happy. It's important to focus on how you can help someone on their journey."

You can find out more about Face Equality International's awareness campaign here.

Additional reporting SWNS.