Growing up may be difficult at times, especially when bullies pick out your differences and utilize them to make your life unpleasant. However, one woman who was bullied because she had three fingers on each hand stated that she would not alter a thing.
According to Daily Mail, Cassidy Laramee of Massachusetts was born with a thumb and two fingers on her right hand, an additional thumb, and a malformed digit on her left hand that was subsequently removed.
This left her with three digits on each hand, causing students to refer to her as a ‘T-Rex,’ but she’s since embraced the dinosaur comparisons, even playing as a DJ under the name DJ Dino.
Cassidy said: “I was born like this on my right hand, on my left hand, it was deformed.
“I had half a pinky [little finger] and two thumbs. I would have been a killer at thumb wrestling but they had it removed when I was a baby.
“I don’t really know what fingers I have [now], I know I have thumbs, that’s it.
“People always said I have velociraptor hands or T-Rex hands, so I’ve always tried to roll with the punches.”
Cassidy claims that people have made so many jokes about her hands over the years that she hasn’t heard a single possible punchline in fact, she challenges people to come up with a new one.
“In third grade, I was bullied out of my school, so we ended up moving and switching schools,” she said. “Once I got into a new school system, everyone was really kind to me.
“I’ve gotten a lot of different things like E.T. or Ninja Turtle, a bunch of different nicknames, and I’ve kind of just adopted them.
“I always tell people, I’ll give you $20 if you tell me a joke I haven’t already heard.”
While Cassidy is often amused by her difference, she says that there was a moment when she was hesitant to go to the manicure salon because of it.
“The first time I ever got my nails done I was really self-conscious because I have one thumb that’s like a toe thumb. It’s a big one,” she said.
“[The nail tech] joked around and said ‘oh I have to use a toenail [extension] for this one’ and after that, I didn’t get my nails done for the longest time because I was just really embarrassed.”
when she was hesitant to go to the manicure salon because of it.
“The first time I ever got my nails done I was really self-conscious because I have one thumb that’s like a toe thumb. It’s a big one,” she said.
“[The nail tech] joked around and said ‘oh I have to use a toenail [extension] for this one’ and after that, I didn’t get my nails done for the longest time because I was just really embarrassed.”
That all changed when Megan Fox, who has also been revealed to have a toe thumb, gave her some much-needed body confidence.
“If Megan Fox can have toe thumbs then so can I. She owns it.” Cassidy, who also works as a car saleswoman, said.
She now has her nails done on a monthly basis, often taking advantage of the 40% discount she receives for having just three fingers.
Cassidy said she uses the money to tip her nail technicians well since she’s a “little picky” about the designs.
“My hands are already messed up, I at least want my nails to look good,” she said.
While Cassidy tries to focus on the positives, she admits that having three fingers makes certain daily activities difficult.
“Opening anything ever is hard, like pickle jars, bags of chips or doors,” she said.
“I have weak wrists, they don’t have great mobility, so just opening anything.
‘”My hands are a bit achy, and I’m sure eventually they’re not going to have the strength that they do [now]. I have early onset arthritis now.”
Cassidy’s hands bring their own set of difficulties, but she says she wouldn’t change a thing about them.
“I wouldn’t change anything about me for the absolute world.
“Even the hardships that I’ve been through in my life, they help me become the person that I am today, which is strong and confident.
“There’s a lot of people out there who struggle with having confidence, and seeing a role model or seeing someone else be open about who they are really helping.”
