A woman who was left with more than 60 stitches after an aquarium smashed across her face when she was just two years old has revealed how strangers mistake her scars for a face mask.
Dana Kay was just a toddler when a 20-gallon (227 litres) fish tank toppled onto her, leaving deep cuts across her cheeks, nose, lips and the top of her head.
As a result of her facial scarring, the 29-year-old says she regularly jokes that she was attacked by a bear, had magic tears or was mauled by a llama.
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“I’ve honestly been asked just about everything you could imagine,” Dana, who works for an airline company and lives in Alabama, US, told Need To Know.
“People have asked if I’m a painter, if I work in healthcare, if I use a CPAP machine, or if I’ve recently had a massage or gone to the chiropractor.
“Some people have even assumed the marks were intentional, while others think they are dimples or smile lines.
“I’ve also had people ask if I’ve been crying, including people who have approached me in public to make sure I’m okay.
“It’s interesting because everyone seems to interpret the scars differently.
“I think the most surprising part is just how many different things people can come up with.
“At this point, I’ve heard so many guesses that very little surprises me anymore.”
Her mum had been in the kitchen making Kool-Aid for Dana and her sister when she suddenly heard a loud bang coming from the living room.
Rushing around the corner, she found her young daughter standing amid a circle of broken glass.
While there had been no fish in the tank at the time, it was filled with rocks and water.
Dana was rushed to hospital, where a plastic surgeon treated her injuries with more than 60 dissolvable stitches.
Dana said: “We had a 20-gallon aquarium sitting on a metal stand in the living room.
“My mom was just around the corner in the kitchen making Kool-Aid for my sister and me when she suddenly heard a loud boom.
“When she ran into the living room, she saw me standing there, staring at her, with a perfect circle of broken glass surrounding me.
“She said I wasn’t crying at first.
“She was completely shocked and immediately began to panic.
“Once I saw that she was panicking, I started crying.
“I didn’t need any surgeries, but a plastic surgeon treated the cuts on my face and head.
“I had more than 60 dissolvable stitches in total, including stitches across my cheeks, nose, lips and the top of my head.
“My mom has told me that my cheeks were cut quite deeply.”
While growing up, Dana remembers children staring at her and asking questions about her appearance.
She said: “When I was younger, I remember a lot of kids staring at me.
“I wasn’t necessarily bullied because of my scars, at least not in the way I remember it.
“It was more that people were curious.
“They would stare, ask questions and want to know what had happened to my face.
“I actually had one friend in school who would tell people that I had cried acid.
“Somehow, that story caught on, and before long, even I thought it was pretty cool.
“When I was younger, I do remember feeling insecure about my scars at times.
“As I’ve gotten older, though, my perspective has completely changed. I’ve learned to embrace them and even have fun with the curiosity they create.”
As she got older, Dana’s feelings about her scars changed, and she began to see them as something that made her unique rather than something to feel self-conscious about.
Building a following on TikTok has helped her embrace that outlook even further.
She said: “I’ve told the true story of what happened to me many times on my page, but there are always new people who discover my videos and ask what happened.
“So instead of always telling the real story, I started making up ridiculous stories of my own.
“I’ve joked that I cried acid, was attacked by a bear, had magic tears, or was attacked by a llama.
“I’ll usually tell these stories with a completely straight face and a very serious tone, which makes it even funnier.
“Now, as I’m approaching the end of my twenties, I’ve received so many compliments about my scars.
“People are especially fascinated by how symmetrical they are and often describe them as looking almost perfect.
“A lot of people don’t even believe that an aquarium caused them, although I can’t entirely blame them considering all the other stories I’ve told.
“At this point, it really doesn’t bother me when people are curious.
“My scars have been a part of me for almost my entire life, and I’ve reached a place where I genuinely embrace them.
“They’re something that people remember me by, and I’m completely okay with that.”
Dana says she has no desire to change her appearance because of the marks.
She said: “I have gone years at a time without really thinking about my scars or talking about them. Sometimes someone will ask me a question about them and it almost reminds me that they’re there.
“I’m very comfortable in my skin, and I feel incredibly blessed with how well my scars healed.
“I feel like they’ve looked pretty much the same throughout my life, although they can become a little darker or lighter depending on how much sun I’ve been exposed to.
“They don’t bother me.
“They’ve been a part of me for almost my entire life, so to me, they’re simply part of who I am.
“My close friends and family don’t even really notice them anymore because they’ve known me with them for so long.
“I’ve even had people tell me that my scars accentuate my smile, which I think is a really beautiful way to look at them.
“I wouldn’t change the way I look because of them.
“I’ve grown to genuinely embrace them, and I’m grateful that I feel so comfortable in my own skin.”
She hopes her experience will encourage others who feel self-conscious about scars, birthmarks, pigmentation or other visible differences to embrace the features that make them unique.
Dana added: “I think we all have things that make us look different, whether it’s scars, birthmarks, pigmentation, or something else that makes us unique.
“Those differences are part of what makes us who we are, and I truly believe there is beauty in them, even when we may not see it in ourselves.
“I especially want anyone who has scars or something about their appearance that makes them feel different to know that they are worthy, beautiful, and deserving of feeling comfortable in their own skin.
“Sometimes we become so used to seeing the things we consider imperfections that we forget other people may see something completely different when they look at us.
“To me, my scars are a reminder that I survived something that could have taken my life, but it didn’t.
“They are marks from something that tried to hurt me, but it didn’t destroy me. I’m still here.
“We are survivors.
“We are blessed to be alive.
“And I hope anyone who carries visible scars can learn to see them not as something they need to hide, but as a part of their story and a reminder of just how strong they are.”
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