Man Bashed for Calling Teen Cancer Survivor 'Weak' Due to Her Bony Arms

A 17-year-old who beat leukemia is being backed on Reddit against a man who called her weak due to her bony arms.

The teen, u/TheaterOfGhosts, shared her story to the popular subreddit, "r/AmITheA**hole," earning over 7,600 upvotes and 400 comments.

She says that though she beat cancer, the original poster (OP) typically doesn't bring it up. She recently went out to dinner with friends, who brought another group of new friends—all male—so she could meet them.

"One thing to note about me, I am very. Very. Very skinny. As in I'm very obviously someone who is either sick or dealing with something else (I'm sick), I'm currently 80lbs and still struggle with food intolerance and whatever, but I know how to handle it and everything," u/TheaterOfGhosts wrote.

She says that night she wore a short sleeved shirt, and though she says she has "really skinny and [bony] arms," she doesn't mind. The new people started asking her about her weight right off with questions like, "Are you OK?" This didn't bother her initially, until one of the men called her "weak."

"I won't lie, yes I'm not strong, I'm not someone who can bench 150 pounds, sometimes I can barely pull myself out of the shower, but I am not weak," u/TheaterOfGhosts wrote. "So, I said this, 'Y'know what, I'm the strongest f**king one sitting at this table, anyone can bench weights but not everyone can beat f**king cancer.'"

Though this shut him up, she says it made the rest of the dinner awkward, and she ended up leaving early. Her other friends are asking why she lashed out, but she thought she was being reasonable—leading her to ask the "AITA" community who was in the wrong.

The first rule of commenting on someone's body or appearance is generally "Don't." A TikTok therapist shared her own personal guideline: "If it would take them more than five seconds to change [whatever the person is commenting on], then hush. Especially if the comment is based on your opinion."

Numerous other sources agree—a simple Google search for "commenting on someone's appearance" brings up myriad blogs, newspapers, magazines and more urging people to keep their mouths shut—even with seemingly innocuous comments like "You look great today."

Reddit, unsurprisingly, agreed.

"NTA: people need to learn already NOT TO COMMENT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLES BODIES," u/tkdwarriorprincess wrote in the top-rated comment with 14,000 upvotes. "You're a warrior; be proud."

"I'm fat, because the cancer treatments have messed up my hormone and autoimmune systems so bad. I then get the comments 'I always thought cancer patients were skinny' or 'but you don't look like you have cancer'! Since when can you tell someone has cancer just by looking at them?? It's like they are calling you a liar, as you don't look like the Hollywood version....grrrr!!! You are so NTA!" u/DuchessDragonfly said.

"NTA. Harping on someone's body is a good way to embarrass yourself when they reveal there's a medical condition causing it. They f**ked around and found out. Play cruel games, win cruel prizes," u/KaliTheBlaze wrote.

"NTA. Nobody has the right to call anyone weak. They don't have any idea what you've been through. You're right, you were the strongest person there. Never let anyone insult you like that," GayGunGuy wrote.

"It doesn't matter what she went through, I don't care if she had toothpick arms from never having lifted anything heavier than a pencil. Other people's bodies are no one else's business, especially strangers. Everyone should keep their comments to themselves," DigDugDogDun replied.

Newsweek reached out to u/TheaterOfGhosts, who declined further comment.