SAN ANTONIO – A Cornerstone Christian School seventh grader with vitiligo has made it his mission to stomp out bullying while raising awareness about his skin disorder.
Sevin Sweatts is now a confident linebacker football player for the Warriors football team, but his life hasn’t always been filled with happiness. His vitiligo started at a very young age.
It is a rare skin disorder that causes a person to lose color in their skin.
“At 3-years-old, he had his first spot,” said Selina Allen, Sevin’s mom. “We took him to the doctor. It was on his hand. They told us it was vitiligo. We kind of went with it and didn’t think anything of it. As he got older, he started to get more and it started to affect him more in his life.”
Sevin said entering school was one of his biggest obstacles.
“The hardest parts were, like, getting into elementary school because that is when people started looking at it and started bothering me,” Sevin said. “They wouldn’t say anything, they would just give me ugly looks.”
It got worse as time went on.
“Finally around at fourth-grade, he started not wanting to show his body,” Selina said. “When he got to the fifth grade, he got into a fight. He told me because he was getting angry so then I started looking around to see when I was going to put him in a different school.”
Selina said the most heartbreaking part about it is that she had no idea what Sevin’s reality looked like when he went to school.
“He was so stressed out in school because kids were being mean to him, but he never wanted to come home and tell mom. He acted like nothing was happening and when I would ask him he would say, ‘No. no.’ At that age, who wants to go home and worry their family? They want people to feel like things are fine. It was really hard. After I found out then I found myself crying in the shower. Crying in the bathroom. Crying on the way home just thinking that it is a horrible experience for a boy to go through.”
No matter what, Selina kept Sevin encouraged with their faith in God.
“Sevin was just one of those special people and what I tell Sevin is that everyone is different, and that God made us all different and he has just been blessed,” Selina said. “To me he has vitiligo because he is being blessed.”
Selina set off to look for vitiligo support groups and found what she said is the best one in Houston.
There, Sevin attended a vitiligo support and awareness conference where he met others like him and others who taught him to love himself.
“When he got back from the conference, he told me, ‘Mom, I don’t want to get rid of my vitiligo anymore.’ I was like alright! He was truly blessed with that family,” Selina said.
“The first thing I thought was that I am not the only one that gets the ugly looks,” Sevin said. “That was my first thought. Being there, I felt really happy because everyone was so nice there.”
Selina also made the decision to move Sevin to Cornerstone Christian School, which she said has been a great blessing.
“Not one person has ever judged him, questioned him, asked him,” Selina said. “He loves his school and he loves everybody here. I think also God in his life has also helped him. Here at Cornerstone, my heart is complete because he is complete. He loves it here. And that is what makes me complete."
Sevin has even been presented with opportunities to model, however he said that is something he isn’t interested in.
“I am not really interested,” Sevin laughed. “I am just really a sports person. I am not really into that.” He said he is a totally different person than what he used to be with his new gained confidence.
“I used to wear jackets to cover it up everywhere I would go just to get it out of my way so people wouldn’t really look at me but now I just show it everywhere so people can look at me,” Sevin said.
“If someone looked at me or said something bad, I would just get shut down. But now, it’s like when people say something bad or look at me bad, it is kind of a compliment for me.”
Sevin also made the decision to give his life to Christ.
“Like last year in the middle of sixth grade, we started talking about it and went to church camp and had worship and I sacrificed my life to God and got baptized two months later,” Sevin said. “It means a lot because then, people will know that I have God in my life to help me through everything and put paths in where I am supposed to go.”
Now, he has one message for everyone.
“Bullying is not right to do to anyone. It is not right,” Sevin said. “Just believe In God. He will help you through your journey.”
Selina, who has done extensive research on vitiligo, also has a goal for her and Sevin to start a vitiligo support and awareness group in San Antonio.
She said she hopes to help and educate adults while Sevin can help and inspire the youth.
More importantly, she hope the biggest message people will take from their story is to trust in God.
"Remind your child that we are all different people,” Selina said. “God made us all different and I hope parents to truly put God in your child’s life so that they can know that God made us differently.”
If you know someone like Sevin who is making a difference in the South Texas community or who has a unique story, send us your tips. Contact Japhanie Gray on Facebook or @JGrayKSAT on Twitter. You can also send your tips to KSAT 12 & KSAT.com on Facebook.
