A courageous mum who is covered in thousands of bubble-like tumours has learned to love her body.

And brave Sandra De Santos has even plucked up the courage to brave the beach in a swimming costume .

The 53-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has neurofibromatosis type-1, a genetic condition that affects the nervous system and skin in many forms.

It is relatively common, currently occurring in about one-in-three thousand births, but in differing degrees of severity.

She said:

“There are moments when I feel sad to see myself in the mirror, or to notice people staring at me on the street, but my family has always supported me.”

 

 

The tumours cover her whole body and devastatingly it has been passed on to three of her four children.

Sandra and her parents had no idea that she had any health problems until she reached puberty.

When Sandra was diagnosed in the 1970’s, very little was known about the condition.