Terri Calvesbert, 19, suffered 85% burns in a devastating blaze at her home in Ipswich, Suffolk, leaving her with no hair, lips, nose or fingers, and just one foot.
Now distraught Terri has revealed she has been attacked by social media trolls – but is hitting back. The inspirational teen is taking a stand against cyber-bullying with a new mission after being picked on by anonymous online cowards.
She was stunned when an account followed by 10,000 people shared a picture of her earlier this month with the caption “everyone is ashamed of me because I am deformed”.
The post asks users to “share” if they are “not ashamed” of Terri.
It has so far attracted more than 2,200 comments – but many of Terri’s outraged friends and acquaintances have branded the attack “sick”.
And they all want the twisted post taken down.
Terri’s being backed by her close pals Michelle Wright, 53, and Gavin Jaques, 30, after launching a social media campaign against cyber-bullying.
All three are calling on Facebook to do far more to remove such offensive posts.
Shell-shocked Terri said: “It’s just awful and when I saw the post it really upset me.
“My friend Michelle told me that she had seen the post which had been shared thousands of times - and I was worried about clicking on it.”
She added: “It’s a foreign account and I don’t know the person running it.
“But it made me feel really low, the lowest I have felt in a long while.
“I just don’t understand why someone would do this to me.”
Terri and her friends have repeatedly tried in vain to report the post using the website’s dedicated function.
Facebook have suggested the photo is not against its community guidelines.
After spotting the post, which has already been shared about 10,000 times, Ipswich-based Mr Jaques contacted Terri through the social media site.
He and Mrs Wright, also from Ipswich, are now working with the brave teenager to set up a Government petition to highlight cyber-bullying .
Mrs Wright, who has known Terri since she was a little girl, said: “We want to turn a negative into a positive with this campaign.
“It is disgusting how this particular person has treated Terri and we do not want it to continue.
“Terri is an incredibly strong person but she was deeply upset by this post.
“Nobody should have to deal with this kind of online bullying, and Facebook should be doing more to stop it.”
Terri, Michelle and Gavin have now started a Facebook page.
They’re planning to launch the Government campaign – which needs 10,000 signatures to be debated in Parliament – later this week.
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