24-YEAR-OLD Katelynn has a rare condition called Treacher Collins syndrome, which affects facial development. For Katelynn, that meant she was born without a jaw, which in turn resulted in her tongue blocking her airway - so doctors acted quickly and fitted a tracheostomy to enable her to breathe. She was also born without ears and wears a hearing aid - but Katelynn has always dealt with her symptoms and remained fiercely independent. However, the judgement she received from other children growing up was a real challenge for her - she was "stared at, laughed at, pointed at" and peers called her "names like frog or alien." At its head, Katelynn no longer wanted to go to school. At the age of 10, though, Katelynn discovered a passion for dancing, which became an outlet for her and still is to this day: "Dancing is my way of letting things go and letting things out of my system instead of screaming or punching walls." 14 years on, Katelynn has taken her captivating routines to TikTok, where she went viral overnight - something she accredits to her boyfriend of two years, Montre, who initially suggested sharing her talent with the world. Katelynn also acknowledges how significant his support has been, as she has faced nasty comments remarking on her facial difference in response to her videos. Montre told truly: "I feel like they've got too much time on their hands. We kind of just look at it like 'OK, you want to be negative. Is there anything better you can do with your life?'" Through many years of finding dating to be daunting, Katelynn had "never met a guy" like Montre and with him now by her side, she has the confidence to defy anyone who seeks to bring her down: "The relationship that I have now, it makes me feel good. I don't feel like I have a condition, I don't feel like I'm any different, I don't feel any less of a human. I'm in my own place, I'm living life, doing what I've got to do. If you're worried about what I do, keep watching!"
Follow Katelynn: https://www.tiktok.com/@alr.bxmbi
Videographer: Brandon Santiago
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Liz Bland
Editor: Alex Saunders
Follow Katelynn: https://www.tiktok.com/@alr.bxmbi
Videographer: Brandon Santiago
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Liz Bland
Editor: Alex Saunders
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I had a jaw and my tongue blocks my airway from my mouth.
00:03It's hard for me to chew and breathe on my own.
00:06Kids would start picking on me.
00:08They would call me names like frog or alien.
00:11I was 10 when I started dancing,
00:13and it helped me escape from all the negativity.
00:15When I went viral on TikTok,
00:17the trolls appeared on my comment section.
00:20Negative comments got me really, really hard.
00:22You would be very emotional.
00:25This right here is my airway.
00:31I had a jaw and my tongue blocks my airway from my mouth.
00:35So having a tray helps it support me breathing a lot more better.
00:39I need to be careful how I clean it.
00:41I usually clean it like once a week.
00:43True to color,
00:43sensuality is a genetic condition that I was born with.
00:46It's a bone feature where I was born without no jaw, no ears.
00:52I had a hearing aid because I don't have ears, obviously.
00:55It's hard for me to chew and breathe on my own.
00:58There's certain things I can't do,
01:00like swim in the water or chew proper food.
01:03I have to be careful what I eat or else I will choke.
01:05What were your earliest memories of realizing
01:07you were different to other children?
01:12I would have to say first or second grade.
01:16I remember being looked at so many times,
01:18like I would get scared at, laughed at, pointed at.
01:22I remember being around sevens.
01:24Kids would start picking on me.
01:25They would call me names like a frog or alien
01:29or all these hurtful names.
01:31I didn't want to go to school because I was kind of like,
01:35I don't want to feel sad, you know?
01:37My parents told me we need to talk and they explained like,
01:40this is why people are doing this to you
01:43because you're born different.
01:44Perfect.
01:47Hey, babe.
01:48Hey, babe.
01:49Want some coffee?
01:50Yes, please.
01:51My dating life,
01:54I never dated anybody like an actual relationship.
01:57I remember being so, so scared.
02:01We met in August.
02:03Back in 2022?
02:052022, yeah.
02:06At first I was very scared of dating
02:09because I never knew what to expect.
02:11I've never dated anybody with this condition,
02:13which made me more interested about what the condition is
02:17because I never knew what it was.
02:18But I wasn't nervous about it only because
02:21how you look doesn't really bother me at all.
02:24You know, I've always told you this.
02:27You never judge a book by its cover
02:28until you actually read the book.
02:33I love you.
02:34I love you too.
02:35The relationship that I have now,
02:37it makes me feel good.
02:39I don't feel like I have a condition.
02:40I don't feel like I'm any different.
02:42I don't feel any less of a human.
02:44I don't feel any, just, I just feel good around him.
02:46And I've never met a guy like that.
02:52You know, I'm a cameraman.
02:53I got to get her recording every time she's dancing
02:55because she's so good with it, you know what I'm saying?
02:58When did you first discover you had a talent for dancing?
03:04I was 10 and my dad didn't know this.
03:07I was like moving my body around.
03:10He's like, yeah, what are you doing?
03:12I said, oh, I make the music, you know?
03:14My dad was smiling like, you know how to dance.
03:17So I'm like, okay.
03:19Dancing makes me feel stress-relieved.
03:23It helps me get my mind off of things.
03:26Dancing's my way of letting things go
03:29and letting things out of my system
03:31instead of, you know, screaming, punching walls.
03:35When I see Kayla dancing, how do I feel about that?
03:37I feel like she's living her best life.
03:43I started closing from kick-off on August of 2023.
03:47My boyfriend actually is the one that told me to post,
03:51like, hey, you should show off your talent.
03:52Imagine how many people you would uplift
03:55with your condition or disability in general.
03:58And I started like, hmm, I don't know.
04:02I was kind of scared because of the hate.
04:04There's a lot of hate comments in the world right now.
04:06I said, you know what?
04:07Screw it, I'll do it.
04:09Why not?
04:09I never thought my videos were going to be viral.
04:12It was unexpected and it's just crazy.
04:14This Gantz said it was going viral for a while.
04:17So I did the Gantz, it went viral overnight.
04:20It hit 11.5 million views, so yeah.
04:24Overnight, everybody was commenting like,
04:27girl, you can dance.
04:28Like, I think they were more shocked
04:30that people with condition like me
04:33can do something like that.
04:36And I saw all the nice comments.
04:37I saw all the negative comments.
04:39I was like, okay.
04:40At first, negative comments got me really, really hard.
04:42I remember at first, you would be very emotional.
04:48And that's understandable.
04:49Who's not emotional?
04:50Everybody is.
04:51And she would ask me that,
04:52why are they talking to me like this?
04:53What filter is this?
04:56They're assuming that my disability
04:59or my face is a filter, which I'm like, okay.
05:01You're trying to act slow.
05:02I don't know.
05:04How did this happen to a person?
05:08And I'm like, eh, somebody aren't smart.
05:12Or you're just trying to be funny.
05:13And it's not funny.
05:14It's stupid.
05:17The next one is a frog analogy.
05:20I'm like, okay, like, really?
05:23It's literally the same comments every single day
05:26or every time I post.
05:27So it's nothing that bothers me anymore, at least.
05:30I feel like they got too much time on their hands
05:33where they feel probably miserable themselves.
05:35They have nothing against really hurt.
05:36And if they do, they need help.
05:38We kind of just kind of like.
05:40Shrug it.
05:41Shrug it.
05:42Look at it like, okay, you want to be negative?
05:44Okay.
05:45Is there anything better you can do with your life
05:47besides being negative?
05:49I sometimes look at it as a boost to like,
05:52okay, since you want to be that negative,
05:54I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.
05:56You're boosting me up to be a better person.
05:57If you can make a negative to a positive,
06:00then what can break you?
06:01It's kind of like, hate me some more.
06:03You're making me happier than ever.
06:04Yeah, basically.
06:07Basically, yeah.
06:08People assume that he's with me for my money
06:10or he's only with me because he deals bad for me.
06:14My understanding that a lot of the times
06:16is not about looks.
06:18When people say, oh, he's just doing it for the money,
06:21you don't know that.
06:22You don't.
06:23And it's not true.
06:24And it's not true.
06:26I make my money.
06:27She makes her money.
06:28We stick together.
06:29As long as you can be truthful and stick by my side
06:32and be yourself, that's all I need.
06:36I'm with him because I feel safe with him.
06:39I feel safe.
06:40I feel myself.
06:41I don't have to pretend to be somebody that I'm not as well.
06:46Looking back, my confidence was zero.
06:48Now it's more like, I would say like an eight.
06:51I'm not going to say 10
06:52because I'm not going to say I'm perfect.
06:54I'm not.
06:55I'm a human being.
06:56I have emotions.
06:57I have feelings.
06:58I have bad days, which is normal.
06:58Everyone has bad days.
06:59I feel so bad that people are not feeling confident
07:03about themselves.
07:04You know, people always say like,
07:05hey, you're confident.
07:06How can you be so confident?
07:08I wish I had that.
07:09I wish I had that.
07:10And I always tell them, you need to build it.
07:12What I hope when people learn from this story
07:15is never give up on yourself.
07:17Never give up on your passion, your dreams,
07:20your goals, your life goals.
07:22My visions and my goals for the future
07:24are just keep going, push hard.
07:26I will never stop doing what I love to do.
07:29And it's just me being me, me being myself,
07:32surrounded by love, positivity.
07:34You can't change the past,
07:36but you can change the future.
07:38What's going to come after?
07:39What's going to come after you next?
07:40I have a message for the people
07:42that are trying to bring me down.
07:45You can keep trying.
07:46I'm in my own place.
07:47I'm in my life.
07:49Doing what I gotta do.
07:50You're worried about what I do.
07:52You're worried about what I do.
07:54Keep watching me.