When Olivia Klopchin’s family observed a bruise on the inside of her elbow that had been there since birth at two months old, they discovered that the 18-year-old from Springfield, Vermont, had a vascular abnormality.
A vascular malformation is a variation in the way that blood vessels develop. These may result in discoloration or protrusions in the area that is afflicted.
Olivia’s ailment has caused her hand and arm to swell to enormous proportions, with the skin seeming somewhat discolored.
She has always drawn attention and occasionally experiences excruciating blood clots, so she wasn’t surprised when videos of herself she shared to her 250,000 followers on TikTok (@oliviaklopchin_) received abusive remarks from trolls.
Even though her arm is perfectly functional, many people wrote to her to suggest that she should have it amputated.
Olivia lip reads the following line while posing with her hands on her hips in one Instagram post: “Take it off? When told to amputate her arm, she replied, “I would rather die.”
More than 240,000 people liked the post, which earned 2.4 million views.
‘Personally, I’d rather have a really great prosthetic, and I could paint it, but that’s just me,’ said one critic.
Another person continued, “You’d look much better without it, though,” [sic]’
Thankfully, a lot of people have stood up for her.
People actually prefer that you lose a fully functional leg since they don’t think it attractive, according to one commenter.
Olivia never intended to write exclusively about her arm, but she thought it came naturally to her.
She remarked, “I didn’t start TikTok hoping to make films about my arm and have all these great prospects in life, but that is something I have always wanted to do.”
“I had never seen somebody with anything similar to me on the Internet before, and once I started getting these possibilities, I took them right away because I wanted individuals like myself to be able to go on their phones and say “hey that person has what I have” or “hey they look like me.”
I’ve received a lot of unique responses about my arm online, without a doubt.
Some folks are very amazing about it and compliment me on how gorgeous and confident I am.
But there are also others who try to undermine me and break down my defenses, she continued, adding that no matter how much we might want to avoid it, there will always be negative individuals on the internet.
Many people’s lives have been overtaken by negativity on the internet, but I have made the decision not to let it consume mine.
I wonder why I would allow these folks to effect me when my life is going well and I’m already carrying out the activities I want to be carrying out.
I can’t let someone’s remark bother me who I don’t even know.
When I initially started using TikTok, it was a little overwhelming since, “I had never heard things like what others had said to me in a comment section in real life before, but sadly you grow used to it.”
Olivia doesn’t believe she will ever consider having her arm amputated.
She said, “I never had a hard time with it growing up. “Of course, I received looks from people, but I knew at an early age that I was unique, that looks would come my way, and that there was nothing I could do to stop them.
“With vascular abnormalities, there is discomfort because we do have blood clots, and blood clots are generated from the veins not having a muscle wall around them so that our veins enlarge and blood can’t flow through easily so it clots up,” the doctor explained. Blood clots can also cause excruciating agony.
Fortunately, I don’t get vascular abnormalities as frequently as many of the other folks I know. Other than that, I would say I have a few bad ones monthly, but they’re not that painful.
Other than suffering through the pain, I was able to engage in sports and hang out with friends. When my friends questioned me about my arm, I was always open and prepared to respond.
“I am so grateful that having one arm hasn’t affected my life negatively.” I could see the pain as a drawback, but I don’t.