An almost 2-year-old girl is warming hearts with her unusually big eyes, the result of a rare medical condition.
Mehlani's mom, Karina Martinez, says her daughter often receives compliments due to her large, adorable eyes, which are downright Disney-esque.
But what strangers don't know is that Mehlani was diagnosed with a rare eye condition when she was just a week old. The condition, Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome, causes her eyes to develop differently than other people's. Mehlani's eye condition has caused plenty of challenges for her, including glaucoma.
Karina worries about what Mehlani's life will be like as she gets older.
"Maybe kids will call her mean names," Karina tweeted recently.
But to her surprise, the tweets about Mehlani went hugely viral. People were unbelievably supportive — and people who have experienced the same rare condition chimed in, too.
Karina says all the love and support made her tear up.
Karina's daughter Mehlani was born with Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome, a rare condition that affects the development of the eyes.
Mehlani was diagnosed when she was just 1 week old, BuzzFeed News reported.
The condition affects the cornea and the iris, making Mehlani's eyes appear different from other people's. While her large eyes might appear adorable to many people, the condition has been a difficult journey for Mehlani and Karina.
"I had never heard of it until it happened to us," Karina told BuzzFeed News.
Mehlani also has glaucoma, which requires her to wear sunglasses whenever she goes outside.
Karina worries that Mehlani will be teased for her unusually large eyes or her sunglasses. She opened up about her fears in a series of tweets recently.
Karina worries about how other kids will treat Mehlani when she starts school.
"What if other kids are mean about her eyes & she gets made fun of?" Karina wrote. "What if she starts to hate her unique gorgeous eyes? It makes me want to cry thinking about it because she’s so strong & sweet & been through so much already."
But to her surprise, her tweets and photos of Mehlani went viral. People complimented Mehlani, shared their own stories of similar conditions, and reassured Karina that she's a great mom.
Karina was bowled over by how kind strangers were being to her and Mehlani.
And even more important, she heard from other parents who also have children with the same condition.
"People are super nice and just letting me know if I had any questions I could ask them," Karina said.
And Mehlani appreciates all the support, too — even though she's still too young to understand her condition.
"At this point I think she’s just too young to understand, so she doesn’t know any different," Karina explained. "She doesn’t know anything is really wrong with her eyes."
But when the time comes, Mehlani has a great mom to help her deal with the challenges.
"I’ll just remind her — I already do — how beautiful she is."
"I’ll just tell her God made her that way for a reason. Everybody has something that makes them different."
