Once dubbed the 'world's ugliest woman,' Lizzie Velazquez shuts down viral memes shaming her

Lizzie Velazquez suffers from neonatal progeroid syndrome, an extremely rare condition that affects her heart, eyes, bones and ability to gain any weight. When she was still in high school, a YouTube video of her went viral, with commenters dubbing her the ‘world’s ugliest woman.’ While intially devastating, Lizzie says in an essay for TODAYthat the incident led to her desire to become a motivational speaker. Now, she's a well-known YouTube star and an advocate for body positivity.

So when Lizzie recently became the subject of a terrible viral meme, she decided to speak out. Lizzie took to Instagram to stand up not only for herself, but for all the real people used to make those not-so-funny memes.

“No matter what we look like or what size we are, at the end of the day we are all human,” she wrote in her post. “I ask that you keep that in mind the next time you see a viral meme of a random stranger. At the time you might find it hilarious but the human in the photo is probably feeling the exact opposite.”

“Spread love not hurtful words via a screen,” she wrote in her Instagram post. Preach, Lizzie. Preach.