Erez Gaon was born with nevus pigmentosa, a condition that causes extensive birthmarks on the body. Doctors wrapped the boy in a diaper as soon as he was born. As a result, they didn’t know how to tell his mother about his unusual appearance.
Erez experiences epileptic seizures because the same spots are in his spinal cord and brain. Erez is a cheerful and sociable child. The features of his appearance do not surprise him, and he tolerates questions and interest in them.
Even his mother, Ruth, was angry after a recent incident. The two were walking around the city when they saw a mother and daughter pointing a finger at the boy and laughing openly. Erez was sneered at loudly and made hurtful comments. On her Facebook page, the woman posted an outraged message.
In her comments, the woman admitted that she wanted to slap her. I was struck by my son’s reaction: he just smiled, took my hand, and walked away.” Her son drew dots all over Ruth’s face after they got home to make them look the same. The woman soon received similar photos from strangers who wanted to support her son after her post went viral on the Internet.
The #FriendsofErez hashtag turned it into a flash mob. In spite of Ruth’s inability to recover from mother and daughter’s insolent ridicule, her son’s example taught her to forgive. Ruth wrote, “I have decided to forgive you.” Ruth wrote, “I have decided to forgive you.” “Every day, my son makes me a better person.”
