I was born with a huge arm and strangers say to ‘amputate it’

A woman born with a debilitating condition that’s caused one of her arms to swell in size says trolls tell her to “amputate it.”

Olivia Klopchin, 18, from Springfield, Vermont, was diagnosed with a vascular malformation at two months old after her family spotted a bruise on the inside of her elbow that had been there since birth.

Klopchin’s condition is caused by the abnormal development of blood vessels, which can lead to discoloration or protrusions in the affected region.

Her arm and hand have swelled in size with the skin appearing slightly discolored and bruised. However, they’re still fully functional — something many social media users seem to disregard when they give her unsolicited advice.

Klopchin regularly posts about her life and condition on TikTok, posting shocking things that users have said to her — including telling her to amputate her swollen arm.

In one clip — which has been viewed more than 2.4 million times — Klopchin responded to a comment someone left telling her to remove her limb. In it, she mouths to an audio clip from an episode of the animated series “Bob’s Burgers” in which someone angrily says, “Take it off!” — and the character Tina Belcher responds, “I would rather die.”

“Bruh regardless of your thoughts like imagine amputating an arm you use and works fine like???? really???” one shocked viewer wrote about the clip.

“People really would rather that you lose an entirely functional limb because they don’t find it aesthetically pleasing,” another commented.

Still others didn’t understand why she hadn’t amputated it.

“Personally I’d rather have a really nice prosthetic, and I could decorate it, but that’s just me,” a TikTok follower wrote.

“Youd look a lot better without it tho so,” someone else told her.

Klopchin said she didn’t initially intend to make content revolving around her arm, but it’s moved in that direction.

“I had never seen anyone with anything similar to me on the Internet before and once I started to get these opportunities, I took them straight away because I wanted people like myself to be able to go on their phones and say, ‘Hey, that person has what I have’ or ‘Hey, they look like me,’” she told NeedToKnow.online.

Klopchin said she’s had mixed reactions from people online — with some telling her how beautiful she is and how much they admire her confidence while others try to tear her down.

“Negativity on the internet has consumed so many people’s lives, but I choose not to let it consume mine,” she said.

“I question why would I let these people affect me when I’m already doing so good in life and when I’m already doing the things that I want to be doing,” she continued. “I can’t let somebody’s comment who I don’t even know bother me.”

Although her TikToks show her sunny outlook and positive attitude, Klopchin admitted that due to her condition she sometimes gets “painful” blood clots. Luckily, she doesn’t suffer from them too often and they haven’t stopped her from participating in regular activities.

“Other than pushing through the pain, I was able to do sports. I would hang out with friends, and my friends would question things about my arm but I was always open and willing to answer the questions they had,” she explained.

“I am truly thankful that my arm hasn’t given me any downsides to life. I could consider the pain a downside but I choose not to.”