לכל צלקת יש סיפור. וצלמת בריטית בת 24 בשם סופי מאיין (Sophie Mayanne) שמה לה למטרה לספר את הסיפורים האלה בסדרת תמונות "מאחורי הצלקות".

מאיין עובדת על הפרויקט כבר שנתיים, מאז 2016, שבינתיים הפך לקמפיין המקדם דימוי גוף חיובי וקבלה עצמית ברשתות החברתיות. הצלמת סיפרה ל"Insider" כי הסדרה החלה כפרויקט מערכתי וצברה תאוצה ככל שעבר הזמן. "המשכתי איתו כי אנשים תמכו בו", סיפרה, וכעת היא עורכת צילומים חודשיים. בתחילה היא ערכה שיחות טלפוניות למציאת המצולמים, אך כעת השמועה כבר עברה מפה לאוזן והם מגיעים אליה. 

Filming today for #bbcnews - coming soon! #behindthescars

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#behindthescars Abi “I was diagnosed with a rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer called Osteosarcoma when I was 27 years old. Doctor’s think that I had the tumour since I was 26. My right arm was aching whilst I was sleeping - everyone I would chop vegetables, and get dressed. I went to see a chiropractor - he moved my arm around and I screamed very loudly. He just said that I had damaged my muscle and said I was very dramatic. Unknown to him, what lay behind my “dramatic” scream was something quite sinister. I was living in South Africa, Cape Town and had recently received my visa to live there. I was working with ant-sex trafficking victims and supporting abused women and children. I had just started helping out at a support group, when one of the girls approached me and said “Hey, you don't know me very well, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve had 3 vivid dreams about you in a row now. In them you come to my house, and when I wake up I feel God’s presence, so I really feel that you need to come to my house.” I’m quite a spiritual person, and had dreams in my childhood that had come true, so I thought I'd go and see her. The day I went to her house she wasn’t actually in. as I was walking out of her courtyard, I had a sense that her dog was going to go for me. The dog looked chilled, so I just shut the gate and as I put my hand through the gate to lock it, I heart the dog bark, and jump up to bite m, so I gently jumped back and my arm completely snapped as I landed. My friend took me to the Doctors. I was sent for a scar and it showed that I had a very clean break. The Doctor’s face dropped when she saw my scan. she booked me in to see another Doctor the next morning. I was in so much pain I didn’t really question why I was seeing another Doctor. When I saw him the following morning he asked me a lot of the typical cancer questions - Have you lost weight, have you passed blood, and so on. He said something had been eroding my bone- my heart was pounding thinking of all the things it could possibly be. He then said those dreaded words that literally took my breath away - you most probably have cancer. Continued in comments

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#behindthescars Aimee “In December 2014 I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. Later in 2015 I was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Both conditions didn’t agree well with my passion for dancing - as my joints and muscles were badly affected. As my condition got worse, my IT band tightened and no longer supported my hip joint properly. Everytime I walked I could easily dislocated my hip as the socket wasn’t closed. Eventually on the 1st February 2017 I had an operation to lengthen the IT band which allowed me to walk and dance again pain free. I have gathered many other scars over the years, including injections - but my hip scar is the one I show with pride!” @imnotaimee

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כל פוסט נכתב בכנות גדולה ונשאר גולמי ככל האפשר. כדי להבטיח זאת, הצלמת מבקשת מהמצולמים לכתוב את תיאורם בכתב יד ביום הצילום.

כל סיפור הוא ייחודי. ישנם סיפורים מעוררי השראה על התגברות על מחלות. וסיפורים על הינצלות מתאונות דרכים קשות. לעתים אנשים חושפים התמודדות עם מחלות נפש ומכאובים. 

"התמונות האלה חשובות כי הן מראות שהחלמה אפשרית - ואני חושבת שזה חשוב לאנשים אחרים שחווים בעיות נפשיות או מזיקים לעצמם לראות ייצוג ויזואלי של אנשים אחרים שחוו חוויות דומות", היא אומרת. 

>> לייק בפייסבוק כבר עשיתם?

#behindthescars Yasmin “My tumour changed my life in so many ways. A life changing operation to remove the tumour, the size of a grapefruit gave me self acceptance on a level that was truly unconditional. In 2012 I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cancer wasn’t an issue, what was was the discovery of a huge tumour. It was benign, but sizeable. Attached to my liver, a bunch of nerves and my main artery to my leg. Five hours of surgery, a deflated hung, my diaphragm put on halt, a bypass with my insides out on a table. My fear going into surgery was the long term affects and how my body would recover. Will my boyfriend still love me, will he still find me attractive, will any man find me acceptable to look at? The truth was, it taught me to love myself hard, without compromise. Inside and out, there was a journey of total acceptance. My amazing body had not failed me yet, so who was I to not love it back for keeping me alive? The message is simple - we are provided with a beautiful vessel to carry our soul. It works so hard to support us daily - the love I have for my body is insurmountable. It allows me to be my glorious self - I am a very lucky girl.” @missyasminibrahim

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#behindthescars Chloe “I started self harming when I was 13 and have struggled with it ever since. The issue with self harming is it gets progressively worse and you end up doing more and more damage to yourself than you think is possible when you first start. It truly is an addiction and you get to a point where surgeons tell you that plastic surgery can’t fix the appearance of the scars, so the only thing you can do is love your scars so much that all the negative connections that come along with self harm slowly disappear - along with all the pain attached to the scars. My scars tell my story, and I’m never going to let anyone else’s thoughts or opinions change that. “ @_chl.o shot on Huawei P10 @huaweimobileuk for @dazed #RevealTheRealYou

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#behindthescars Becky “My scars decorate my entire body - I used to be so ashamed of them, mainly because of the reactions I received. People would stare at them whenever they were on show and in turn I became uncomfortable with having them out. I started avoiding clothes that weren’t jeans - if I braved a skirt, I would cover my scars in makeup. I have surgical scars and self harm scars. As a teenager I suffered from an eating disorder and depression, and as a result at age 16 I jumped off a building in an attempt to end my life. The 20+ surgeries have left me with scars head to toe (literally). The ones on my legs and feet bothered me the most, along with the others on my rights that made me dread wearing a bikini. This was how my scars used to make me feel, but having embraced them as part of me I no longer feel ashamed. I wanted to take part in this project so that people can become more accustomed to seeing scars and avoid said reactions. Additionally I want to help and encourage people to embrace their scars. As a student nurse - helping people accept their bodies is part of the job, but how can I do that if I don’t do it with my own?” @becksgendall

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רבים מהמצולמים לא רואים בצלקות שלהם פגמים, אלא חלקים אהובים בעצמם. ואם תהיתם אם לסופי יש צלקת משלה, אז לא, אין לה, אבל היא עוזרת לאנשים אחרים. "לפני שהתחלתי את הפרויקט הזה, לא באמת הבנתי את הכוח שיש לתמונה". ואין לה שום כוונה להפסיק, למעשה, היא מתכננת להקים אתר שיוקדם לנושא וגם להוציא ספר שיאגד את התמונות והסיפורים. 

עוד ב-mako בריאות:

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#behindthescars Lucia “I was born with five holes in my heart and have been wearing my zipper since I was 2 weeks old. I had my second lot of open heart surgery at 2 years old and my third lot at 26 (6 months ago!) because my heart was too big. Oh the irony of having a big heart - physically and metaphorically! I have truly been on a heart journey my whole life, and my scars are a reminder that I am strong and can do anything. When I was little my parents did the worrying for me, but having my 3rd lot of surgery this year, I have really understood the strength and beauty of my scar. It’s me! To have an open heart is a true gift in life, and I’m lucky enough to have been opened 3 times. I used to not even be able to say the word scar- as if it was something evil and ugly, but now I see it as a beautiful word. The older I get, the more honoured I feel to be a part of the exclusive “zipper club” and yes, as a woman, it has been hard wearing a scar down the middle of my chest, by my breasts. (one of the sexiest parts of your body!) - but the way I see it is that I’m so abstract, Picasso would want to paint me!” @luccidarling

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#behindthescars Felicity "My body is, and has always been scattered with freckles and moles. Too many to keep track of. Last year I noticed one had changed and seemed darker and more misshapen than before. I saw several doctors, all of whom said it was nothing to worry about - but I pushed to get tested and was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma insitu. Luckily this is the very early stage of skin cancer, so it was caught with plenty of time. It was treated by removing 5mm of skin from the area. At the time I just felt so relieved. However, this summer I again noticed a mole looked darker and misshapen. This time round I was more anxious, stressed and very scared. Again I was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. This time it was further along in its growth, meaning I had to have 1cm of skin removed. It’s very rare to be diagnosed twice at such a young age, and hearing the world “melanoma” and “cancer” really shook me. I’m so grateful that my skin cancer was caught early - the scars are a small price to pay. They will always be a reminder of how lucky I am, and how short life can potentially be. I would rather have a body adorned with scars, and the hope of a future - than an early death and a flawless corpse.”

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#behindthescars Nell “My scars were made whilst I was in a coma for 90 days. The scars on my face, neck and groin are there because I was on life support known as ECMO - my lungs had been devastated by a necrotising pneumonia and they had to stop me breathing - the ECMO oxygenated my blood and kept me alive for 66 days. The other round scars on my body are from chest drains because both my lungs had collapsed and infection and air was trapped in my chest cavity. The scar on my back is from surgery I had because my chest had filled with so much blood that it was impacting my heart. All this began when I went on a school trip to the Ardeche in France. I left on the 26th June with the school and came home on the 24th October. I was in a French hospital in Montpellier, in Intensive care all that time. They never gave up on me and fought with me. My scars are the map of my survival and I’m very proud of them. They give me strength and individuality. It’s very rare for people to survive this infection - and in actual fact I survived two, because after the first pneumonia, I suffered a second infection - hospital born MRSA and went into multiple organ failure. We all fought on. I have a small scar on my throat where I had a tracheostomy - it was strange to have no voice when I woke up, but I wasn’t afraid - I only believed.” @nelly.may.joan

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#behindthescars Deepshikha “I did not see myself before my scar - I have had it for as long as I can remember. I was 4 months old when I had a surgery to remove one of my spare kidneys. Yes, I was born with an extra one which was making me very ill. My mum says my scar was very tiny after they operated - probably because I was tiny over all. As I grew, my scar grew with me - and so did my discomfort and embarrassment over it. It’s very much a personal journey, but I am fortunate to have support from special people. It’s taken me 34 years to come to terms with it - I haven’t got to the point where I can confidently wear a saree, or a two piece bikini without a care in the world, but hopefully - one day - I will get there soon!" @deepshikhabaisya

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