Bride reveals how she developed vitiligo months before her big day due to stress
A bride has revealed how she was left in tears after developing a pigmentation disorder just months before her wedding. Kandice Benford believes that her vitiligo was triggered by the stress of planning her big day. She first noticed white spots on her hands when she was at college years ago but she says that she didn’t really care about it at the time because she only had a few blotches. It was only when she turned 30 that the disease started to spread rapidly. While Kandice was juggling work and wedding planning, her husband fell ill and she had to worry about his health too. ‘I think stress triggered it. Because I got stressed, I started seeing a more prominent spot on my nose and it started spreading more. It was like it happened overnight.’
Over the course of a year, those spots spread – and now they cover her entire body. (Picture: SWNS) ‘I was really down about it at first,’ she says. ‘You see yourself every day for 30 years and then one morning you wake up and you look different. ‘Kids would say, “Mummy, what is that all over her face?” or people would ask, “Is it a burn?”.
(Picture: SWNS) On the day of her wedding, Kandice was tempted to cover them up but her husband persuaded her not to. ‘I was freaking out but everybody has been very supportive. My husband said, “You’re beautiful with or without”. (Picture: SWNS) ‘I gave myself a pep talk and moved on. I had to embrace it. My body is my body. I ended up feeling great on my wedding day. I can honestly say having vitiligo has made more confident in myself.’ A year on, she’s more confident than ever and wants other women with vitiligo to embrace their bodies.
(Picture: SWNS) ‘Vitiligo has honestly made me a stronger person.’ she says. ‘At first the stares made me feel very, very uncomfortable but now I look at those people and wave. (Picture: SWNS) ‘To anyone else going through this, you need to love yourself. Be patient with yourself. You are stronger than you think.’
