WHEN Divine Rapsing fell in love with her husband online, the way he looked wasn’t a concern for her.
But due to an autoimmune disease that affects Scott Smith’s appearance, the couple have experienced savage criticism about their relationship.
People accuse “hot wife” Divine of being a “gold digger” and claim she has only wed Scott for citizenship perks.
“There’s a lot of people that will bash us at any chance they can,” Scott says.
Critics include his own family, who he describes as “sceptics”.
Due to his auto-immune disease, people tell Divine that her beau is “going to die soon”, while others assume she has multiple men on the go and is a “gold digger”.
The couple assure this is far from the truth though, as Scott felt that she was “very sincere” from the start.
Scott, 29, has a chronic autoimmune disease called scleroderma which “morphed” his appearance.
It is an umbrella term for a range of conditions that affect the immune system and can cause hard, thickened areas of skin, according to the NHS.
In some cases, those with scleroderma will experience problems with muscles, bones, internal organs and blood vessels.
It’s thought that the disease occurs because part of the immune system has become overactive and out of control, leading to cells producing too much collagen.
Scott was diagnosed with scleroderma aged 13 and told his life expectancy was around aged 23.
But he proved doctors wrong and has since managed to carve a life against all odds – including flying to her native Philippines to see Divine, despite being told his oxygen levels were “too low” to get on a plane.
The couple were in a long distance relationship – 8k miles to be precise – for four years before settling down in Texas, US.
They met on Facebook when Divine was searching for someone else, but stumbled upon Scott’s profile.
As well as sending the first message, Divine also made the first move regarding meeting up in person and asked Scott to visit her in the Philippines.
The couple met in the southeast Asian country for the first time in November 2017 – and this is when Scott popped the question.
He flew out to see his fiancé a further five times, before officially tying the knot so Divine could come and live with him in the US.
However, Scott’s family were sceptical of Divine’s motives.
“They didn’t really know what to think,” he shared. “They like to physically meet people before they make any kind of judgement.
“But at the end of the day, we waited four years for each other.”