--- title: Utah Surgeon Gives Bullied Teen Free Ear Surgery description: The teen said she was called names like "Dumbo" canonical: https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-03T00:18:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:21.667Z og:title: Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery og:description: The teen said she was called names like "Dumbo" og:url: https://time.com/3945348/utah-teen-ear-surgery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery twitter:description: The teen said she was called names like "Dumbo" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Utah Teen Bullied for Her Big Ears Gets Free Surgery > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 3, 2015 12:18 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 3, 2015 12:18 AM UTC 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) 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). **Read Next:** [Nip. Tuck. 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