A man living with a facial difference has quit his job to focus on helping children who are bullied for being different. <br /><br />Amit Ghose, 34, was born with neurofibromatosis type 1 - a condition that causes tumours to grow along nerves. <br /><br />Amit has taken a “leap of faith” in quitting his role as a regional manager at a law firm in favour of pursuing a career as a motivational speaker. <br /><br />At the age of 11, Amit had his left eye surgically removed in a gruelling 18 hour procedure which led to him wearing an eye patch for six months while his prosthetic was developed. <br /><br />Amit said this invited verbal abuse and shunning from his fellow pupils. <br /><br />He said: “With Halloween coming up, a kid said to me: ‘You don’t need a Halloween mask, you’ve got one for life.’<br /><br />“That comment absolutely broke me, I still think about it every Halloween.”<br /><br />Amit, who is from Selly Oak, Birmingham, said he now channels this experience when he is talking at schools. <br /><br />He said: “I tell school children to be mindful of what they say to others as what might be banter for them was a lifelong scar to me.”<br /><br />While Amit acknowledges that many schools cannot afford to pay around £250 for half a day of talks, he has set up a GoFundMe page which has raised more than £1,700 so far. <br /><br />Amit was encouraged to play sport, taking up cricket and making it into the team at Selly Oak Academy. <br /><br />He said: “I was bullied a lot - I was lonely, nobody wanted to talk to me or sit next to me.<br /><br />“I went from the boy with a funny face to the boy who plays cricket.”<br /><br />Amit was encouraged to put on his first talk by his manager, who asked if he would speak at his daughter’s school. <br /><br />After his first talk, Amit saw an article on Little Hearts Matter written by the mother of a boy who has undergone multiple open heart surgeries and a heart transplant. <br /><br />The article said the boy, Vinnie, came home from school after a talk from Amit feeling inspired, with plans to take up football and become a motivational speaker when older. <br /><br />Amit said: “That moved me to the point I quit my job and decided to do this full time.”<br /><br />Amit said his father, Kamala Kanto Ghose, had always encouraged Amit to live a normal life, standing up for his son when others voiced concern for his safety when playing cricket. <br /><br />Amit recalled: “He would say: ‘If he wants to play, he’ll play.”<br /><br />Kamala was calm and put on a brave face to Amit before his eye surgery. <br /><br />But it was not until after Kamala passed away in 2009 that Amit learnt his father had broken down in tears at home while the surgery took place.<br /><br />Amit was introduced to Piyali, 27, a make-up artist originally from India, through a family friend in May 2021. <br /><br />The pair fell in love and married in India in December 2021. <br /><br />Amit is a global advisor to Billion Strong and an ambassador to Face Equality International.<br /><br />Amit's fundraising page - https://www.gofundme.com/f/2srv99-support-my-journey
