Heartbreaking tale of American deformed by nuclear radiation who was abandoned and viewed as a 'monster'

Tim Mason, 27, was abandoned by his soviet mother when he was just an infant.

He was born in Moscow, Russia in April 1997, 11 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

This nuclear meltdown began on April 26, 1986 and led to the largest release of radioactive material into the environment in human history.

As a result of this tragic disaster, Mason's biological mother was exposed to high amounts of radiation while pregnant, causing him to be born with only one limb. 

Mason's left arm is fully formed and functional, but his right arm and legs never finished growing, making it very difficult for him to walk and perform other basic tasks without assistance.  

On the day he was born, his mother left him outside of an orphanage with a note saying she did not want to raise 'a monster.'

But Mason's life changed at age three, when he was adopted by Virginia Mason from Arlington, Illinois. 

She said she knew she wanted to be his mother as soon as she saw him.

Nuclear radiation harms a growing fetus at the cellular level and can cause mutations in the DNA that prevent it from developing normally.

There has been a 200 percent increase in birth defects and a 250 percent increase in congenital birth deformities in children born in the Chernobyl fallout area since the 1986 disaster, according to Chernobyl Children International. 

Mason is just one of many whose lives were forever changed by this event. 

But now, he is living a full and happy life as an exams officer in Chicago, reports SWNS Media Group.

'I am at the point in my life now where I would say I'd make my younger self very happy,' he said.

'The life I am living is what I wanted. Growing up, in middle school, I wanted to grow up in the city and be independent.

'It has taken a lot of work, and it hasn't been easy.

'If I could tell my younger self one thing, it is that 'everything is going to be ok and you will make it through no matter what. 

'There are going to be people that doubt you, and think you can't succeed, but if you believe in yourself you can do it.'

Mason said he takes it as a challenge when people tell him he can't do something and loves to prove them wrong. 

After Mason adopted him and moved him to the US, he started learning English immediately. 

Mason was fitted with prosthetics and used a walker and crutch to move around.

Despite his disabilities, he said his peers were very supportive. 

'Being a young kid around other young kids makes life a lot easier,' Mason said.

'Once they got their question about me answered they were chill.

'It was easy for me to make friends.

'A lot of people think I was bullied in school and it was hard, but school is hard on everyone in middle and high school - you are coming to terms with yourself.'

But as he got older, Mason said he stropped wearing his prosthetics and started to struggle with friends in his teenage years. 

'One thing that has been limited is forming relationships,' he said. 

'Growing up was like a rollercoaster.

'Middle and high school is when I started to notice the impacts my disabilities have on making friends.

'I would get asked: 'who would even date you?''

He ultimately got through this difficult period, and is now enjoying adulthood in Chicago like he always dreamed.

But he has still encountered challenges, including the loss of his adoptive mom. 

'My mom died in August 2024, after being diagnosed with vascular dementia,' Mason said.

'I struggled with her death, I was 188 pounds, which was my highest weight.

'I started working out on the treadmill, I could only do three minutes at first and now I can do around 45 minutes.

'I started working out and going every day, which has been an amazing part of claiming my independence and getting healthy again.

'I have been doing a lot of training, in total I have lost 70 pounds.'

Mason tries to focus on the positives in his life and loves to show people that 'life is as normal as he makes it.' 

He said: 'I do find that I have a lot of positivity, life is meant to be enjoyed.

'Growing up with these challenges, helps you understand how valuable life is.

'I am not always 100 percent positive but as far as my disability, it has never been something that I felt sad or insecure about.

'I was born into this world like anyone else - you have to make with what you have in life.'