For 27 years, Frances Mcmillan , of Oamaru, has lived with a large port wine stain birthmark on the left side of her face.
As an adult, Ms Mcmillan, marketing and communications officer at the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust and Forrester Gallery, said stress, social anxiety, and feelings of isolation had been a part of her life.
But she said she had "learned that you've got to move on''.
"It makes you stronger, definitely,'' she said.
She had never hidden her birthmark.
But on July 22, she decided to reach out.
Ms Mcmillan wanted to renew laser treatment that would lighten the birthmark and prevent further changes to her face.
Yet due to her age she no longer qualified for funding and at $1800 per session, the treatment offered by Dr Swee Tan, in Lower Hutt, was out of her reach.
She started a Givealittle page and with $1773 already donated, Ms Mcmillan was confident of at least one session of the laser treatment starting next year.
"The whole community has been so supportive, it's very overwhelming, it's really amazing,'' she said.
An envelope at the till at Steam Cafe, in Thames St, had begun collecting cash donations.
Still the procedure that felt like "1000 cigarette burns to your face'' was not a quick fix; she hoped to raise enough money for three to five treatments - but her birthmark would never disappear.
"Hopefully when I'm ready for the 20th treatment, I'm a lot more financially stable.''
Ms Mcmillan first began treatment when she was 6 years old, but the technology had not been as advanced as it was now and it left her face bruised and swollen for about two weeks afterwards and, she noted, "children can be cruel''.
Her bruised and swollen face disrupted her schooling and she faced severe bullying; she stopped seeking treatment for about 10 years, until she left school at 16.
"High school is even more of a testing place than primary school, I just wanted to wait,'' Ms Mcmillan said.
She went to Hutt Hospital at the age of 20 and had the first of the new treatments that now, due to her age, is not funded.
She was affected more because of her age now - walking into a grocery store somewhere other than her home town, or meeting people at business meetings - "and you know that's the first thing they see''.
● givealittle.co.nz/cause/pleasehelpfrances
