Bullying leads 11-year-old girl to get cosmetic surgery

An 11-year-old girl said bullying over her looks was so extreme that she was forced to go under the knife.

Bella Harrington, who is from Virginia, said she didn’t think much of her protruding ears until school bullies started to take notice, WRIC reported.

“They would always, like, point it out,” Harrington told the news station. “At first, I didn’t care about it but then the more people pointed it out is when I wanted to change it.”

The bullying became so vicious that the pre-teen said she was afraid to wear her hair back in the pool.

“When people would ask if I would like to go swimming in the summer I’d be scared they’d show,” she said.

Her mom, Sabrina Harrington, said that other students would call them “elf ears” when they mocked her.

Following years of bullying, her family made the decision to consult a cosmetic surgeon to get a procedure known an otoplasty, which pins back one’s ears.

“It’s no different than getting braces, that changes your appearance,” her mom told WRIC. “If it’s going to make you feel better about yourself, so be it.”

In December, Dr. Joe Niamtu, whose offices are in Midlothian, performed the surgery on the 11-year-old girl.

Bella said that she was thrilled with the results.

“I was so happy,” she said, adding she’s no longer “focused on if people can see them.”