ANGEL and Karla have been together for two years and engaged for two months. Angel says this is his first ever relationship. He 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. He was unsure if he would ever find love. At the start of the relationship Angel says he was shy to ask Karla to help him with things, he says he didn't want her to see that side of him. 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 he introduced 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 says at times it has angered 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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00:00This is Carla. She fell in love with Angel.
00:05People judge our relationship because my partner has a disability and I don't.
00:10I obviously knew it wasn't going to be like any other couple.
00:14He does need help, so I do have to help him.
00:18You're for sure cheating, like I don't care what anyone says.
00:22People say that she's only with me for the disability checks.
00:27Joey's my sister-in-law is coming over to just have a little discussion about how she sees our relationship.
00:35I know both of them aren't too like content creating.
00:39I'm like maybe this is something that's just to help them both out.
00:45You ready? We have to get ready for the day.
00:50I'm Angel. I'm 18 years old and I'm a content creator.
00:53How'd you sleep?
00:55Bad.
00:57Why?
00:58Nightmare.
00:59I'm Carla. I'm 20 years old and I'm dating Angel.
01:03Can you tell us the name of the condition that you have?
01:06It's called osteoporosis and it's based on the joints of my hands and in my legs and also on my hips.
01:14I don't have enough strength to lift up my whole body by myself.
01:21We first met through social media.
01:23We started talking after I started noticing that she would like my stories on Facebook.
01:28And I was like well she's really pretty so I decided to text her.
01:32I knew like some way or another I had to make it work.
01:36Like I really liked him.
01:37Five months in she started coming over and started seeing what my mom was doing.
01:42So she was kind enough to start helping out.
01:45I obviously knew it wasn't going to be like any other couple.
01:49He does need help so I do have to help him.
01:53But he did tell me from the start you're kind of signing up first like helping me.
01:58Because I didn't want her to feel trapped.
02:00Is that good for you Stephanie?
02:02I love it mom.
02:03I'll get him out of bed, put his clothes on, get him dressed.
02:08And then we just head to doing his skincare, brushing his teeth.
02:13If his phone drops I have to pick it up.
02:17Or if he wants a cup of water I have to come in and give him water.
02:22I grew up with two younger sisters who were deaf.
02:26I feel like I've always had that caregiving mindset.
02:29And it was never like oh my gosh I don't want to do this.
02:33It was more like I'm happy to help out.
02:36Like just let me know what you need.
02:42New Year's of 2023.
02:44We decided to take this New Year's picture of us kissing.
02:48And I posted it to my Snapchat.
02:50And then that's where like all my friends were like oh Angel has a girl.
02:54I always knew I wanted to be like a Gunja creator.
02:57So when TikTok came around and I started seeing people blowing up.
03:00I was like I could do this.
03:02And I knew my wheelchair would like catch people's attention.
03:05I do a lot of skits of me and her.
03:09I ended up posting a video about her and me.
03:12Because she would always be like oh you don't post me on your social media.
03:16And that video actually ended up getting like 2 million likes.
03:19It was like my most liked video.
03:21At first it was very intimidating.
03:23I still do get kind of like shy in public.
03:26But he's always kind of telling me don't be shy.
03:29Like we don't even know this people.
03:31The comments we receive are mainly like oh she's just doing it for the money.
03:36Like she's just doing it for the money.
03:38How much are his parents paying her.
03:41You're for sure cheating.
03:43Like I don't care what no one says.
03:45And then obviously more intimate comments.
03:48Where they're asking a little bit too much.
03:50Like why do people like have that in their mind.
03:54To even like put out in the public.
03:57Someone was like how down bad does a girl have to be.
04:00And I was like to date you.
04:02And my comment ended up getting more likes than his.
04:05So it's kind of annoying me.
04:07People say that she's only with me for the disability checks.
04:11Or the parking spots.
04:13We don't even receive disability checks.
04:16Like we've never received a check before.
04:18Somebody wrote this whole paragraph saying like.
04:21I would really like sit down and think about what you're doing.
04:25Because who wants to like live their whole life with someone who can't like do anything.
04:31You're trying to bring up the simile right?
04:33Yeah.
04:34Like the one with the cookie dough.
04:35Yeah.
04:36I've always been judged since like little.
04:38Now it doesn't affect me.
04:40Neither does the comments.
04:41Because I know it's people I'm never going to meet.
04:43I know who I am.
04:44And obviously I know who my partner is.
04:46And as long as it doesn't affect her.
04:48It doesn't affect me in any way.
04:52So Joey's my sister-in-law is coming over.
04:55To just have a little discussion about how.
04:58She sees our relationship.
05:02We like to bake.
05:03So we decided to make her some cookies today.
05:18How are you?
05:19I'm good.
05:20My name's Joyce.
05:21I am Carla's sister-in-law.
05:23Would you like a water, Joyce?
05:25Please and thank you.
05:28I know both of them are into like content creating.
05:31So I'm like maybe is this something that's just to help them both out?
05:35I think that was my main concern.
05:37So like what did you think when I first started dating Angel?
05:40Or like when I first brought it up?
05:44I always felt like you were very mature.
05:46And always very grounded in what you do.
05:51And people you interact with.
05:52But you know I'm glad he's in the family.
05:54You seem very happy.
05:56You know from like my experience.
05:58Like I've always had to like care for somebody.
06:01Like as my family.
06:02And so I feel like with him it was just like oh.
06:06Like I can help him out.
06:07I know taking care of someone is not easy.
06:10The way that she does.
06:12And she's actually.
06:14She actually wants to.
06:15Kind of amazes me.
06:16Because I feel like I wouldn't do it.
06:21You know we got engaged like in September.
06:24So.
06:27We got engaged in September of last year.
06:30And we really had to think about like our future lives.
06:34And what we have to do in order to get to them.
06:38I think one thing you guys should experience.
06:41Is living together before you get married.
06:43I know that usually it's traditional the opposite way.
06:46But I feel like whenever you move in with someone prior.
06:48You get to know them a little bit deeper.
06:50And get to see a side of them.
06:52And get to see a side of them that you're not really used to.
06:54As well as just make sure your guys' goals down the road are kind of aligned.
06:59Yeah that is kind of like our goal this year.
07:02To be in that place where we're able to live together.
07:09There's a lot of communication between both of us.
07:12And we respect each other's opinion.
07:14If we have a problem we always talk it out.
07:17I consider him normal.
07:19But I feel like it works just because we're also so different from everybody else.
07:23The best way to deal with haters.
07:25I feel like don't give them the attention they always want.
07:28Because that's the only thing they could get from you.
07:30The thing I love most about Angel.
07:32He kind of brought a side of me.
07:35That I feel like I never really was able to have anybody else get for me.
07:41Just because like he's really funny.
07:43And like his personality is really just outgoing.
07:47Just do your thing.
07:48Don't care about anybody else.
07:50I love how caring she is.
07:52From the jump she didn't care that I was with a disability.
07:57Like she always says, she sees me like everybody else.
08:00And I really love that about her.
08:02She has a beautiful soul.