Voyage around my face

Tom Hickey says the burden of facial disfigurement led to despair, until Trish came into his life, opening a door to a world of happiness

THAT face on the right is mine. So what do you see when you look at it, especially if we have never met? Go on, be honest. The truth won’t hurt me. At least not now.

I’m facially disfigured. In truth I’d like to look like someone else — Brad Pitt and George Clooney, ideally — but I’d have settled for a more normal face, less noticeable than my own. Just like yours. I’m 60 now, so I know that’s never going to happen. This is who I am, scars and all, inside and out. Physical scars are one thing, psychological ones something else.