Charles.vals
Chads.org
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2026
- Posts
- 477
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I’m not really sure how to write this, but I feel like it needs to be said somewhere.
Last year I suffered a severe facial burn. Overnight my face—my identity—was destroyed. I won’t go into details, but the damage was real and permanent. Surgeries, pain, recovery, mirrors I couldn’t look at. People talk about burns like they’re just injuries. They’re not. They erase you.
Before this, I put a lot of my worth into how I looked. I’m not proud of that, but I’m not going to lie either. When my face was taken from me, so was the version of myself I understood. I didn’t just feel “ugly.” I felt unrecognizable. Subhuman. Like I’d fallen out of society overnight.
The mental crash was worse than the physical pain. I avoided mirrors. I avoided people. Every stare felt like confirmation of what I already believed—that I was ruined. I spiraled hard. I wasn’t suicidal because I wanted to die; I was suicidal because I couldn’t see a future where living like this made sense.
I came close to ending my life. That’s the truth. The shame, the grief, the isolation—it piled up fast. Anyone who says looks don’t matter has never had theirs violently taken away.
I didn’t wanna die I just didn’t have a life worth living
Last year I suffered a severe facial burn. Overnight my face—my identity—was destroyed. I won’t go into details, but the damage was real and permanent. Surgeries, pain, recovery, mirrors I couldn’t look at. People talk about burns like they’re just injuries. They’re not. They erase you.
Before this, I put a lot of my worth into how I looked. I’m not proud of that, but I’m not going to lie either. When my face was taken from me, so was the version of myself I understood. I didn’t just feel “ugly.” I felt unrecognizable. Subhuman. Like I’d fallen out of society overnight.
The mental crash was worse than the physical pain. I avoided mirrors. I avoided people. Every stare felt like confirmation of what I already believed—that I was ruined. I spiraled hard. I wasn’t suicidal because I wanted to die; I was suicidal because I couldn’t see a future where living like this made sense.
I came close to ending my life. That’s the truth. The shame, the grief, the isolation—it piled up fast. Anyone who says looks don’t matter has never had theirs violently taken away.
I didn’t wanna die I just didn’t have a life worth living
