Sylvia Mac has spent most of her life trying to hide the painful scars that cover her body. At the age of 48, she decided enough was enough
It was one day that changed everything. Sylvia Mac was three years old and playing with her siblings at home in Stepney, east London, when she was badly burned by a pot of boiling water. She narrowly survived the accident, cheating death three times while in hospital, but was left severely disfigured on her back, stomach and legs.
The scars ran far deeper than her skin. Sylvia developed post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and chronic low self-esteem. She was bullied when she was young, and considered ending her life. When she hit her 40s, her mental health deteriorated and she found herself spending much of her time “locked away, hiding and crying”.
“I went through life feeling very low and I didn’t really achieve in school or in the workplace. In job interviews, I wouldn’t really be fully ‘there’ and would often just walk away. I turned to alcohol at times and had suicidal thoughts.”
The youngest of five sisters, Sylvia would attack those closest to her. “I had three children and a partner, but no matter how much anyone loved and reassured me, I continued to struggle. I was really destroying my own life.”
The news might all seem bad, but good things are happening too.
Two years ago, another day changed everything. While on holiday with her mother, a man began filming Sylvia in her swimwear. “I could see that mum was extremely upset and I didn’t want to spoil her holiday. So I went down to the water’s edge where everybody could see my scars, put my hands on my…
