--- description: The teen said she was called names like "Dumbo" title: Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 3, 2015 12:18 AM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 3, 2015 12:18 AM CUT A Utah surgeon gave free corrective surgery to a teen who was bullied for having big ears. Isabelle Stark told [_PEOPLE_](http://www.people.com/article/utah-girl-large-ears-free-ear-pinning-surgery?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined") kids in her high school would walk up to her and tug her protruding ears and call her “Dumbo.” But thanks to a surgeon who was no stranger to ear-related taunts while growing up, the 18-year-old was able to undergo a corrective procedure free of charge. > [](https://twitter.com/people/status/616676514147508229) “I know what it’s like to be bullied about something you can’t control,” Steven Mobley, a Salt Lake City surgeon who runs a foundation that offers free ear-pinning surgery to low-income kids, told _PEOPLE._ “I’m really happy for Isabelle—now maybe she can move on to the next chapter of her life.” Read more at [_PEOPLE_](http://www.people.com/article/utah-girl-large-ears-free-ear-pinning-surgery?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined"). **Read Next:** [Nip. Tuck. Or Else ](http://time.com/3926042/nip-tuck-or-else/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/"},"headline":"Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery","datePublished":"2015-07-03T00:18:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:21:45.656Z","description":"The teen said she was called names like \"Dumbo\"","url":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society","plastic surgery","health","Surgery","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/","name":"Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","description":"5 Elements of A Viral Video","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vgQtqA8c/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-22T13:42:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```