'My face terrified a little boy' - PHOTO

But when as a teenager, she discovered a lumpy patch of skin at the bottom of her back, Ms Hawkins could not predict the impact the subsequent diagnosis would have on her life.Within 10 years the mother-of-one was barely recognisable, her face and body covered in bubble-like tumours. Today, the brave grandmother lives with America's worst case of the incurable disorder Type 1 neurofibromatosis. The 64-year-old has grown to accept her appearance after 49 years of living with the disease.But as a young woman she admits living with the extremely rare condition has been hard. Ms Hawkins, who lives in a trailer in Loganville, Georgia, said: 'First I got scared. I didn't know how people were going to react when they saw me.'When I would go out it was kind of rough - people would stare at me.'She was 15 years old when she first noticed the mysterious growths starting to appear on her back.The teenager underwent surgery to have the benign lumps removed.She said: 'When I was about 15 I had a patch on my face, I didn't know what the name of it was, because I was 15 and nobody explained it to me.'I also had one on my back and I had it taken off and stayed in the hospital a couple of days.'And after that I didn't seem to have anymore.'I got married and I left home. And when I was pregnant they said I would probably have a normal baby. When I had Charles he was healthy and there wasn't anything wrong with him.'But the growths began to return, with pronounced lumps starting to appear on her face and back.'My husband never did say anything about my disease but it was getting worse and by the time we separated it had got very bad,' she said.(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az