Boy Who Was Bullied About His Teeth Is Unrecognizable All Grown Up

Here’s an unfortunate fact of life: kids can be mean to each other. Whether this behavior spouts from personal insecurities or means to establish a sense of exclusivity, some kids hit one another, call each other names, and just treat their peers poorly. It’s prevalent in schools, and it’s called bullying. The threat is real.

And when it comes to their classmates that look a little bit different, those bullies can be absolutely unforgiving. So when one boy was afflicted with an unfortunate physical malady, he was quickly marked as the prey some school bullies could sink their teeth into — until he made a drastic change.

Evan Hill knows all too well the trauma of being bullied. Kids teased him for years for one very specific reason, and the constant threat of being picked on caused Evan anxiety and humiliation every time he went to school.

Evan grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, a small town on the east coast of the country's south island. In photographs, Christchurch looks like a paradise, but bullying can make anyplace a nightmare. Evan faced harassment regularly.

Evan was born with a severe case of buck teeth. It was so bad he struggled to speak and wasn't even able to close his mouth entirely without a lot of discomfort. He was ashamed of the way he looked, and kids at school didn't help his self-esteem at all.

Bullying has unfortunately become more prevalent in schools today than ever before. Because his two front teeth protruded from his mouth quite noticeably, he was the target of the ruthless torment of school bullies.

His parents wanted to help the best they could, but they were dealing with financial struggles of their own. A recent earthquake had devastated Christchurch causing damage to their home and costing the family their only vehicle.

Despite trying to skimp and scrape, Evan's single-wage family couldn't afford the procedures necessary to fix his smile. His mother, heartbroken over her son's disposition, considered mortgaging the house. But things quickly turned around when Evan was given an opportunity to speak up.

The news of Evan's plight became public when he was invited to speak on Campbell Live, a local news show in New Zealand. Fellow New Zealanders heard about Evan's struggle and were inspired to help this boy.

The people of New Zealand wanted to see Evan smile proudly. So people of the island nation launched a fundraising operation to get Evan the pearliest of pearly whites.

Incredibly, strangers who identified with Evan's struggles quickly raised a total of $100,000 dollars for his cause! Evan finally had reason to hope that things might change for the better.

Evan and his family were overwhelmed with the munificent support that flooded in! For the first time, Evan was hopeful that this would be the answer to his lifelong problem, but there was still much more that needed to be done.

Now that Evan had the funds to correct his teeth, he needed to find an orthodontist that would be able to take on a complicated case like his. In a small town like Christchurch, that can be difficult; luckily Evan was able to find the perfect man for the job.

Using the money that was donated to him, Evan met with Dr. Ronald M. Sluiter, a seasoned orthodontist with a practice right there in Churchchrist. Dr. Sluiter believed with a lot of work and patience, he would be able to get the boy back on track.

Evan and his family were hopeful that Dr. Sluiter would be able to permanently fix Evan's ivories. Evan met with Dr. Sluiter and discussed a plan for straightening out his teeth. It would be tough, but Dr Sluiter felt confident about his ability to fix Evan's problem.

Dr. Sluiter got to work immediately. A case like Evan's would take a lot of work and several years of corrective care. But first thing first, Dr. Sluiter needed to thoroughly understand what exactly was happening in Evan's mouth to create the optimal treatment plan.

Normally the upper jaw sits at a 2-degree angle, but Evan's jaw was sitting at a 12-degree angle leaving a 2-centimeter gap between his top and bottom teeth. This degree of adjustment would take a lot of time, operations, and several iterations of braces.

Though Evan knew he was in for a long and difficult journey, he was already beginning to gain some confidence back with each improving shift of his teeth. Sometimes, it's not just about arriving, but the pilgrimage to get there. And in Evan's case, he had a whole country cheering on his smile.

Evan went through a grueling five years of regular dental visits, operations, and braces. It was a lot to ask a young boy to endure, but Evan was prepared to do whatever it took to feel better about himself. Still, all the while, it was uncertain if all Dr. Sluiter's efforts were going to work for such an extreme case.

Finally, the day arrived for Evan's final round of braces to be removed. After much anticipation, Evan cracked a big old smile revealing a perfectly straight set of pearly whites! What a difference from five years ago!

Despite years of teasing and name-calling, Evan was now able to put his best face forward. He recovered a lot of self-esteem over the years working with Dr. Sluiter and with all the help and support from his family and community, Evan felt he had a lot to smile about.

The money that was donated for Evan's orthodontic work was in excess of what was needed. The funds covered all the medical expenses and also allowed Evan's family to buy a car in order to take him to appointments. The extra money was put into a trust for other kids in need of dental care, giving hope that, in the future, these kids would have more to smile about — even in the face of bullies.

Watching Evan's transformation throughout his extensive five-year procedure is an affecting reminder of the power of courage and community, and the impact it can make on someone's life. Just check out this Texas freshman who stood up to bullying in a whole new way.

As a freshman at Harker Heights High School in Killeen, Texas, 15-year-old Hannah Combs was doing her best to acclimate herself with her new surroundings post-middle school. For the most part, it was all going great.

With a handful of hobbies, like her involvement in the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at her school, it was only a matter of time before she was on the right track.

But just as quickly as she'd settled into high school life, everything changed in the blink of an eye. One afternoon, while talking with a friend in the hall, a male student snuck up behind her and poured something into her hair...

Right away, her scalp felt as if someone had lit it on fire. As Hannah soon learned, the boy had decided it would be funny to pour super glue onto her head. Just when things had been going well, she'd become the victim of terrible bullying.

Hannah suddenly suffered agonizing pain following the horrific incident. "It instantly started burning," she recalled to reporters during an interview about her terrifying ordeal. "It was horrible."

Once she regained her bearings, Hannah rushed to the school nurse with the hopes that she could help her. As was protocol, school officials immediately called her parents to explain what had happened...

When Hannah's parents arrived at the school to check on their daughter, they were understandably furious. It seemed as though the school wasn't going to reprimand the student responsible.

The horrific ordeal that she had to experience at school that day, unfortunately, left Hannah with first-degree chemical burns on her scalp. Yet, that wasn't even the last of it, as the doctor told her something else, too...

Hannah was going to have to shave a portion of her head. "I realized I lost my favorite thing about me. I loved my hair," Hannah explained. "My hair was the only thing I liked about myself, honestly. I lost it for no reason."

For Hannah, this wasn't going to go away overnight. The terrible pain, which she described as being like "sunburn, times 10," was more than likely going to last for several days—at least.

Even so, Hannah and her mother, Jessica, decided to take a stand against bullying—a problem they've felt has long plagued the school system—by starting a Facebook community called Justice for Hannah.

"I want to make a difference. I would like people to stand up for themselves. No one deserves to be bullied—it's not fair for anyone," Hannah said. "I'm just a normal kid with strong beliefs. When it comes to bullying, I stand up for people a lot because of it—but it's worth it."

While her bully had ruined the hair she loved so dearly, Hannah was determined to not let him rob her of her confidence. The bully simply wasn't going to win, no matter what...

"Bullying is wrong," Hannah wrote on the Justice for Hannah Facebook page. "Sometimes it's the bully that really needs the help… maybe this has made him see that he has been doing things the wrong way."

Meanwhile, Hannah's father, Christian, wasn't happy with the bully's punishment, which amounted to an in-school suspension. For starters, Christian demanded the Killeen Independent School District Police file assault charges.

After its decision, the school district began receiving criticism from concerned parents nationwide. Obviously, this was a situation that caused a lot of people to form strong opinions...

The bully's mother, however, saw things differently. "He did something wrong, yes," she claimed. "But he is a kid and these are adults talking about bashing his brains out or getting a baseball bat and beating him so bad that he's hanging by a thread."

Luckily for Hannah, there was somewhat of a silver lining to all of this. When news of her attack broke—and the community learned that she had to shave a portion of her hair—a local salon generously stepped in to help, free of charge.

As horrible as Hannah's terrible bullying experience was, she was ultimately nothing but defiant. Truly, this was one determined teen—and no bully's actions were going to break her spirit!

Hopefully, Hannah's resilience and words inspire other kids to be proud of who they are and to not let the bullies win. That might be easier said than done, but with this teen as an example, who knows what could happen!