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  • 3 hours ago
ANGEL and Karla have been together for two years and engaged for two months. Angel was born with a condition called arthrogryposis, which causes joint deformities that limit a person's range of motion. He cannot walk or carry out certain tasks independently and has always been wheelchair bound needing care. Angel was unsure if he would ever find love, and at the start of the relationship he felt shy to ask Karla to help him with things and didn't want her to see that side of him - but as their relationship progressed, Karla happily helped to care for Angel, brushing his teeth and helping him get dressed. Online and in public they've faced judgement consistently. Angel’s socials took off when he started uploading comedic videos of his life. He has amassed 30.5M likes on TikTok alone, but since introducing Karla to his channel, he regularly receives comments of hate and ignorance. Angel has been judged his entire life so says he is used to it, but it frustrates him that his relationship is criticised. He says people are so quick to judge and ask personal questions about them as a couple. Karla says: “We get a lot of comments saying 'I'm just with him for money', that 'I get his disability cheque' that 'I don't love him' and 'I'm just with him out of pity', those are the comments that catches my eye the most, they're the worst."

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00:01I'm Angel. I'm 18 years old and I'm a content creator. I'm Carla. I'm 20 years old and I'm dating
00:07Angel.
00:08I feel like I've always had that caregiving mindset. I grew up with like two younger sisters who were deaf.
00:15I'll get him out of bed, put his clothes on, get him dressed. I obviously knew it wasn't gonna be
00:22like any other couple.
00:24He does need help, so I do have to help him. But he did tell me from the start.
00:30Because I didn't want her to feel trapped. I've always been judged since like little.
00:33So when Texas came around and I started seeing people blowing up, I was like, I could do this.
00:38And I knew my wheelchair would like catch people's attention.
00:43People say that she's only with me for the disability checks or the parking spots.
00:49We don't even receive disability checks. Like, we've never received a check before.
00:54Someone was like, how dumb bad does a girl have to be? And I was like, to date you?
00:59And my comment ended up getting more likes than his. So it's kind of alarming, I guess.
01:04Somebody wrote this whole paragraph saying like, I would really like sit down and think about what you're doing
01:11because who wants to like live their whole life with someone who can't like do anything?
01:15Now it doesn't affect me. Neither does the comments because I know it's people I'm never gonna meet.
01:21I know who I am. And obviously I know who my partner is. And as long as it doesn't affect
01:26her, it doesn't affect me in any way.
01:32You ready? We have to get ready for the day.
01:37I'm Angel. I'm 18 years old and I'm a content creator.
01:40How did you sleep?
01:43What?
01:44Why?
01:45What a nightmare.
01:46I'm Carla. I'm 20 years old and I'm dating Angel.
01:51Can you tell us the name of the condition that you have?
01:53It's called autograpposis and it is based on the joints of my hands and in my legs and also on
02:01my hips.
02:01I don't have enough strength to lift up my whole body by myself.
02:08We first met through social media.
02:10We started talking after I started noticing that she would like my stories on Facebook.
02:15And I was like, well, she's really pretty. So I decided to text her.
02:19I knew like some way or another, I had to make it work. Like I really liked him.
02:24Five months in, she started coming over and started seeing what my mom was doing.
02:29Cause she was kind enough to start helping out.
02:32I obviously knew it wasn't going to be like any other couple.
02:37He does need help. So I do have to help him.
02:40But he did tell me from the start, you're kind of signing up for helping me.
02:46Cause I didn't want her to feel trapped.
02:48Is that good for you to step on me?
02:50I'll get him out of bed, put his clothes on, get him dressed.
02:56And then we just head to doing his skin care, brushing his teeth.
03:01If his phone drops, I have to pick it up.
03:05Or if he wants a cup of water, I have to come in, give him water.
03:09I grew up with like two younger sisters who were deaf.
03:14I feel like I've always had that caregiving mindset.
03:17And it was never like, oh my gosh, like, I don't want to do this.
03:21It was more like, I'm like happy to help out.
03:23Like, just let me know what you need.
03:29New Year's of 2023, we decided to take this New Year's picture of us kissing.
03:35And I posted it to my Snapchat.
03:37And then that's where like all my friends, they were like, oh, Angel has a girl.
03:42I always knew I wanted to be like a country creator.
03:44So when TikTok came around and I started seeing people blowing up, I was like, I could do this.
03:49And I knew my wheelchair would like catch people's attention.
03:52I do a lot of skits, both me and her.
03:59I ended up posting a video about her and me.
04:02Because she would always say like, oh, you don't post me on your social media.
04:06And that video actually ended up getting like 2 million likes.
04:09It was like my most liked video.
04:10At first, it was very intimidating.
04:12I still do get kind of like shy in public.
04:16But he's always kind of telling me, don't be shy.
04:18Like we don't even know this people.
04:21Comments we receive are mainly like, oh, she's just doing it for the money.
04:25How much are his parents paying her?
04:28You're for sure cheating.
04:30Like I don't care what no one says.
04:32And then obviously more intimate comments where they're asking a little bit too much.
04:38Like why do people like have that in their mind to even like put out in the public?
04:44Someone was like, how dumb bad does a girl have to be?
04:47And I was like to date you.
04:49And my comment ended up getting more likes than his.
04:52So it's kind of ironic.
04:54People say that she's only with me for the disability checks or the parking spots.
05:00We don't even receive disability checks.
05:03Like we've never received a check before.
05:05Somebody wrote this whole paragraph saying like,
05:09I would really like sit down and think about what you're doing
05:12because who wants to like live their whole life with someone who can't like do anything.
05:20You're trying to bring it the same way, right?
05:22Yeah.
05:22Like the life with the cookie dough?
05:24Yeah.
05:24I've always been judged since like little.
05:27Now it doesn't affect me.
05:28Neither does the comments because I know it's people I'm never going to meet.
05:32I know who I am.
05:33And obviously I know who my partner is.
05:35And as long as it doesn't affect her, it doesn't affect me in any way.
05:40So Joey's my sister-in-law is coming over to just have a little discussion about how she sees our
05:48relationship.
05:50We like to bake.
05:52So we decided to make her some cookies today.
06:06How are you?
06:07I'm good.
06:08My name's Joyce.
06:09I am Carla's sister-in-law.
06:12Would you like a water, Joyce?
06:14Please and thank you.
06:15I know both of them are into like content creating.
06:19So I'm like, maybe is this something that's just to help them both out?
06:23I think that was my main concern.
06:25So like what did you think when I first started dating Inja?
06:28Or like when I first brought it up?
06:31I always felt like you were very mature and always very grounded in what you do and people you interact
06:39with.
06:40But you know, I'm glad he's in the family.
06:42He seems, you seem very happy.
06:44You know from like my experience, like I've always had to like care for somebody, like as my family.
06:50Yeah.
06:50And so I feel like with him, it was just like, oh, like I can help him out.
06:55I know taking care of someone is not easy.
06:58The way that she does and she's actually, she actually wants to kind of amazes me.
07:04Yeah.
07:04Cause I feel like I wouldn't do it.
07:07Just take care of someone.
07:09You know, we got engaged like in September.
07:13I got the phone.
07:14Yeah.
07:15We got engaged on September of last year and we really had to think about like our future
07:22lives and what we have to do in order to get to them.
07:26Yeah.
07:27I think one thing you guys should experience is living together before you get married.
07:32I know that usually it's traditional the opposite way, but I feel like whenever you move in with someone prior,
07:37you get to know them a little bit deeper and get to see a side of them that you're not
07:41really used to,
07:42as well as just make sure your guys' goals down the road are kind of aligned.
07:47Yeah.
07:47That is kind of like our goal this year to be in that place where we're able to live together.
07:54Thank you for the cookies.
07:56There's a lot of communication between both of us and we respect each other's opinion.
08:02If we have a problem, we always talk it out.
08:04I consider him normal, but I feel like it works just because we're also so different from everybody else.
08:11The best way to deal with haters, I feel like don't give them the attention they always want,
08:15because that's the only thing they could get from you.
08:18The thing I love most about Angel, he kind of brought a side of me that I feel like I
08:24never really was able to have anybody else get from me,
08:28just because like he's really funny and like his personality is really just outgoing.
08:34Just do your thing.
08:36Don't care about anybody else.
08:38I love how caring she is.
08:40And like, from the jump, she didn't care that I was in the disability.
08:44Like she always says, she sees me like everybody else.
08:48And I really love that about her.
08:50She has a beautiful soul.
08:52I love her.
08:53Look at that.
08:58She has a beautiful soul.
08:58You...
08:58No, I'm not alone.
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