A Smile for Life

Fundraising campaign by asmile1
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Hello, My name is Mike, I'm English and I'm here in the hope of raising money for my French girlfriend (who doesn't know about this). Just to tell you about our situation, we live together in her parents' home. Her mother doesn't live here anymore since she and my girlfriend's father are no longer together, but they cannot afford a divorce as the mother is unemployed and the father is handicapped and approaching retirement. Since I came to France my girlfriend has looked after me and it's more than time for me to look after her.

Since she was little, she's encountered all sorts of dental problems and been bullied throughout life for her "overbite". Finally, and in my opinion bravely, she decided to get surgery. It will not be a pleasant experience, involving several months of painful recovery wherein she'll be forced to eat through a straw and suffer a great deal. But she decided it was worth a year or two of pain now in order to spend the rest of her life able to look in the mirror and smile, to not hide her jaw in photographs, and to finally have some confidence back after bullying and complexes robbed her of it. This video outlines the procedure.

Unfortunately, it's not just for aesthetic reasons. Obviously for her, that's what seems to matter the most, but in fact her condition is so acute that it can cause sleep apnea, respiratory problems, trouble eating, and the loss entirely of her teeth later in life. Even something like biting into an apple is a problem for her. It's the sort of operation that is reasonably rare so strangely and sadly not free on the usually great French health service, but the dangers of the condition are revealing themselves and it's not something anyone would want to grow old with.

In all, it takes between one and two years for the procedure to be completed. We went for her first interview with the surgeon last October, and had braces fitted early this year. Another appointment with the surgeon is booked in for this October, wherein he'll decide on the operation date based on how well the braces have worked. Here's a view of her dental impression where you can see the extent of the problem:

We knew going into this that it would be expensive, but were determined to deal with it. My girlfriend is a student but has worked through the summer and uses what savings she has towards her teeth, while I currently work voluntarily as an English teacher and am searching for something that will pay. I've been able to earn some money and it goes straight towards her operation but we're beginning to worry that we won't have enough and this whole thing will have been for nothing. If we can't raise the money for the operation then it will have to be cancelled and I desperately don't want her to go through that disappointment.  

Above is an image of her real teeth, do excuse me for not posting more pictures but I have to respect her privacy, especially since the whole point of this is that it's her biggest complex. But hey, if people donate and this turns out well, I'll post some pictures of her post-op when she'll be happy to smile.

I'm doing all I can to support her and to ask money from strangers isn't something I would normally do. In fact, there are many other people on this site (I've read a few stories) who desperately need the money and I implore anyone thinking of donating to read other articles first. But, I have to post this regardless because it's for her. I love her and I'm sick of seeing her hate the way she looks when I know she's beautiful. 

The operation itself plus the braces will have cost around 3500 euros by the end but I'm only asking for 1000 because I'm sure we can get the rest ourselves. I do thank you for reading and if anyone does donate I cannot begin to describe the gratitude we would have. It's hard to get across in words how much this means to her, it really would be lifechanging. Many thanks again.    

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€0.00
raised of €1,000.00 goal
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No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities