An Iowa teenager is turning to surgery, hoping an expensive procedure will give her a new smile. Since she was a little girl, Liberty Williams’ mouth curved a bit different than those around her. Now after years of bullying, she said she doesn't feel free to smile wide. "Do I have a crooked smile?" At 4 years old, Liberty asked her mom that question.Dusty Williams said her daughter's preschool teacher had brought it up to her.It broke her heart, so they tried to find a fix."There was nothing, we had no diagnosis at all,” Dusty Williams said.So for 15 years, Liberty lived with one side of her mouth being different. And bullies have always noticed."It was hard because I know I’m different from other people and people would just see me differently than I do, so I just want to be seen as normal and have a normal mouth but it’s hard when people keep saying things,” Liberty said.This past year the bullying took a big turn.Liberty got an anonymous text message calling her names and saying, "You have no point in life and nobody wants you here. I don’t know how you get friends with that messed up mouth.""It didn’t have a phone number or anything, I didn’t know what to do. I went straight to my mom,” Liberty said."She was just sobbing in a ball on her bed, just sobbing and I was angry,” Dusty Williams said.After calls to the police, the school, the phone provider and the county attorney with no answers, the Williams family felt at a loss.But, that reignited their search for a doctor who could help.A surgeon in Omaha, Nebraska, tried, but once Liberty was under anesthesia, Williams said the doctor came out with bad news."This surgery was unsuccessful. We went in, we cut her open we dug around and there’s actually no nerves or muscles in the entire side of her face,” Dusty Williams said.He was able to place gold in her eye, which allowed her to finally close her eyes completely.That doctor referred them all the way to a surgeon in Beverly Hills. They believe he can do a facial reanimation."They can’t fix anything internally but on the outside, they can make her smile a little more symmetrical and change some of the things about her that she's uncomfortable with,” Dusty Williams said.A GoFundMe will pay for the expensive surgery.A friend is offering photoshoots, with the proceeds going to the Williams family.Money is also being raised by the sale of anti-bullying T-shirts in Liberty’s name.“That’s what’s more important is that they stop treating her that way to me than fixing who she is, like that’s who she is,” Dusty Williams said.In the end, it’s Liberty's choice. "I think if I got the surgery I’d be happier with my smile but I feel like other people are winning if I do. So, I don’t know what to do,” Liberty said.

A Nebraska family is urging people to get the flu shot as their daughter continues to fight for her life after getting the virus two years ago.The young mother has been unresponsive and is now in long-term care.Her family said it all started with a flu diagnosis.This family said their daughter's life may have been different if she'd have gotten her flu shot.“She got her CT scan yesterday. So, it's not worse, but it's not better,” said Vicky Bookout, Crystal’s mom.Hospital beds have been the reality for Crystal Velasquez after a flu diagnosis two years ago.“Crystal is at Madonna now. And she was on a vent, but now she's on the extended care. Where she'll be, I mean, the rest of her life,” Bookout said.Now 38, her family said she's been in a mostly unresponsive state since 2019.“It's even hard to go up there and see her but then it's harder to leave her,” Bookout said.She's made some small improvements, they said.“She laughs and she smiles now. And she didn't do that on the vent unit. But she's doing it now,” Bookout said.But her life is vastly different than it was before.A Seahawks football fan, lover of music and giving soul, Velasquez's family says she started to feel sick in early December 2019.After getting medication for her influenza diagnosis, they say she was sent home.Then, they say she went back for a chest X-ray, which revealed pneumonia, but was again sent home.“She came by the house and said she couldn't breathe. And she was coughing. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything,” Bookout said.Her mom said she was rushed to the hospital and intubated. That shock to her body caused her to have a stroke.Those moments would be some of the last her mom would have with her while conscious.“She did tell me she didn't want to die because she just had a bad feeling that something was wrong,” Bookout said."You don’t ever think this is going to happen to your child, especially from the flu.”Bookout said the recovery has been hard and she believes the flu shot could have helped. They hope their daughter will continue to improve and want others to take every virus seriously and get vaccinated.“I know people that don't believe in those shots, the flu shots, and that's up to them. And I have nothing against him for that. But I know it's not going to stop me,” Bookout said.

You've heard of a vow renewal.But have you ever heard of a second proposal? And no, she didn't say no the first time. An Omaha, Nebraska, couple is celebrating 20 years of marriage with a special surprise.Ring in hand, in a tuxedo and this time with help, Charlie Burkett waits to propose to his wife."Hopefully she says yes,” Burkett said. "I met my wife 23 years to the day ago at Family Fun Center and I asked her to marry me 21 years ago to the day here at 72nd and Dodge,” Burkett said.Burkett sent Olly the Trolly to pick up Felicia and her family all those years ago while he waited at the place they met to propose. That time he wore a t-shirt and shorts and had a broken arm.Not Sunday."My best friend picked me up this morning. We went out to breakfast and we started to get ready for a fun afternoon out,” Felicia Burkett said.Felicia had no idea anything was up until a trolly pulled up in her driveway.It was full of family.Everyone except her husband and five kids.You guessed it, they were at 72nd and Dodge and the trolly drove straight past it. "That’s instantly when I knew. When I saw the boys and Charlie standing under the marquee,” Felicia Burkett said.Felicia lost her ring playing football with her sons. Her second proposal comes with a brand new ring to replace it.“I like the big dramatic, its 20 years, 20-year anniversary you’ve got to do something,” Charlie Burkett said.“I am so blessed. God has blessed me with an amazing family and friends, and I am just one blessed girl,” Felicia Burkett said."Marriage is not always easy even though we see these fairy tale moments, it really is our relationship with God and each other that has kept us going."