A young woman born with a rare condition has been using social media to spark conversations about physical differences.
Olivia Klopchin has been showing viewers what it’s like to live with vascular malformation, and she asserted that it “doesn't stop her from doing anything.”
Although people stare and ask questions, the social media star from Springfield, Vermont, assured viewers that she is open to talking about her condition.
Olivia Klopchin has been using social media to spark conversations about limb differences
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
Olivia was two months old when she was diagnosed with vascular malformation, which is caused by the abnormal development of blood vessels. This leads to discoloration or protrusions across her arm.
Although her hand swells up in size and makes her skin look discolored and bruised, she explains to her followers that her swollen arm can do everything any other arm can do.
“Basically, my veins don't have a regular muscular wall around them to keep their shape, so they expand, and I get blood clots,” she said in one video.
The content creator was diagnosed with vascular malformation when she was two months old
Image credits: olivia.klopchin / Instagram
They are “not dangerous” and “just stay in her arm,” the TikToker explained.
“My arm gets clots because my veins don't have a straight tube to flow through, so since they expand, my blood can't just flow through as easily as others, so it does clot up, and that can be painful,” she continued.
Through her videos, Olivia has been raising awareness among her followers about limb differences, and she said her condition hasn’t stopped her from doing anything.
Image credits: olivia.klopchin / Instagram
“I've played sports; I've done everything normal people can do,” she said.
However, she noted that it can be “painful to do everyday things” when she gets a blood clot.
She told her viewers that her condition “doesn't stop her from doing anything”
Along with educating her viewers, Olivia also entertains them with her lighthearted skits and witty TikTok trends.
Some of her videos garner millions of views, keeping viewers hooked with her mix of humor and confidence.
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
In a recent video, she attempted to do a pushup but laughed and dropped to the ground when she couldn’t.
“I blame it on my arm,” the text read.
Olivia keeps her viewers hooked with a mix of humor and confidence
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
Fans often leave praises for her in the comments section, with one saying, “You’re an icon.”
“Idc what nobody says she’s a baddie,” another said.
One said, “u are by far the coolest human I have ever seen.”
“My right arm is exactly like yours,” another wrote.
When one viewer asked about her dating life, she said nobody has had “an issue with it” so far.
“Of course, when I first meet them, when I first meet anybody, they always ask about it, which I get,” she said. “It's there, it's noticeable – which gives them reason to want to ask, which is fine. But nobody's ever had a problem with it.”
Her dates have never “had a problem” with her arm so far
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
The TikToker has reassured her viewers that she absolutely does not find their questions “rude” and is always happy to explain.
“I really have no issue with people asking; I always explain. But once people get to know me more or hang around me more ... they usually tend to forget it's there,” she said in one video.
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
The content creator said she never planned to make videos about her arm and post them online. But she grabbed the opportunity when it came up.
“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 in 2022.
The viral sensation revealed that people have asked her to get her arm amputated
Image credits: oliviaklopchin / TikTok
During the interview, she mentioned how several people have asked her to amputate her arm, but she has no plans of doing so.
“I never had a rough time with it growing up,” she said. “Of course, I got stares from people, but I understood at a young age that I was different, that people were going to stare, and that there was nothing I could do about it.”
She asserted that sharing TikTok videos makes her feel happy and she’s been able to help a number of people just by sharing her story and listening to theirs.
“Never seen anything like this before,” one social media user said
