Reading Avery R.'s “Heroes: Kimberly H.” in the April issue, I felt more than sympathy; I felt every burn on Kimberly's body, every menacing stare, and every pang in my stomach. As a kid, I never thought much about people with missing limbs or scars, except to realize I couldn't do anything about it. In fact, I was scared of people like that. But as I grew up, I realized that these people had feelings, too; the only difference between us was our appearance.

After reading about Kimberly, a sense of compassion hit me hard. Not only did she lose her boyfriend, she almost lost her life as well. She served as an inspiration for me to view people in a new light. She judged people on personality, a lifelong lesson that helped her, and that I know will help me. I don't care what people look like now. Since we're all human, we're all the same in different ways.