Billerica town manager: I look different, making me a target online

BILLERICA, Mass. — Billerica’s town manager is sharing a powerful and personal message.

John Curran was born with hemifacial microsomia, a rare condition in which the lower half of one side of the face is underdeveloped and doesn’t grow normally.

The 53-year-old said he was often made fun of as a child because of his appearance, but when he grew older, the bullying stopped – until recently.

Curran said in the past two years, he’s been personally and publicly attacked on social media because of his looks at least five times.

In a moving op-ed in the Sentinel & Enterprise, Curran wrote, in part:

"Social media should not be a venue for personal attacks. We should all consider that we don't know everyone's full story nor should we presume to understand why people are different. We should make a better attempt to understand and know people."

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