Chronic Illness Makes Woman Amazing Contortionist | BORN DIFFERENT

A WOMAN suffering from a chronic illness that allows her to twist her body into mind-boggling shapes has turned it to her advantage - by becoming a contortionist. Scarlet Checkers has Ehlers-Dalos Syndrome (EDS) – a rare collagen disorder characterised by unusually stretchy skin and flexible joints – and could be confined to a wheelchair in the next 10 years. But rather than let the condition get her down, the 23-year-old has used it to her advantage, performing as a contortionist for her local community and wowing crowds with her incredible body manipulations. Scarlet, who was diagnosed with the condition just one year ago, told Barcroft Media: “I didn’t want to turn my diagnosis into a pity party."

Video Credits:
Videographer / director: Travis Mays
Producer: Katie Mercer, Ruby Coote
Editor: Grant Hanson-Vaux

For more of the amazing side of life:

[pammatney]

I also have type 3 EDS. I've been told that I'd end up in a wheel chair by the time I was 30. I just turned 34. So I'm beating their odds & you will too if you stay strong

[liz]

I have girl envy over the way she’s able to shave her legs

[kitkatd]

I have hypermobile EDS, and I've been told by a lot by my doctors, nurses and physiotherapists not to do tricks, your joints will rapidly decline. I'm 22 and have to use a wheelchair when I go out of the house and crutches around the house. I'm in pain the majority of the time and the EDS has also affected my digestive system and bladder. I used to do tricks at school before I knew I had EDS. Also I was a trampolinist but had to stop because of injuries and my health declining. Roughly a year later when I was 17 I was diagnosed with EDS. I'm not posting this as a sob story, I'm just trying to say please be careful ❤️ xxx

[KateFollot]

I mean... the backlash from the eds community is because even if you're self aware enough not to sublux or dislocate while contorting, you're still putting additional stress on those joints and surrounding tissue. Some people can get away with it, some people end up seriously paying for it down the road.

[ScarletCheckersForever]

Thank you for posting this during Invisible Disabilities Awareness Week! ❤️

[errorerror]

Her moving in all those ways might not of hurt her, but it sure as hell hurt me watching her! Ahh

[fuckingdead]

Imagine her doing the whole sit n' reach thing for PE in school

[BetterLifeAhead]

She will likely deeply regret this. There is NOT a safe way to contort with EDS. Pushing your joints past the point normal people get move them loosens your ligaments a little more every time. Your joints will deteriorate faster than they otherwise would. Her attitude is she's going to be in a wheelchair one day so she might as well have fun now. Mine is I'm going to be in a wheelchair some day, and I'm going to make sure that day is as far off as possible because I know there are freedoms I have now that I will miss once I'm in a chair. She said she was only recently diagnosed and it is very clear. She should at least see a physical therapist and be guided through each move by someone who specializes in EDS. Listening to your body doesn't work when the whole problem with your body is that it doesn't know what normal is.

[Baylaruse]

I have EDS type 3 and even though I sometimes abuse my flexibility I regularly go to physical therapy so that I can work on stability within my joints and go to the gym to strength train 6 days a week. With EDS because you are hypermobile, it's extremely important to have good strength and stability to avoid excessive injury. But I totally resonated with what she was saying, like about walking down the street and stepping wrong and suddenly I'm walking on the side of my foot and my ankle is at 90 degrees... been there too many times, I can certainly relate. My femur and hips can also dislocate which is a cool party gag to have someone put their hand on my hip as I'm standing and then feel it completely pop out.
There's a ton of debilitating pain and symptoms but..There are definitely other pluses too, I'm great at yoga/contortion, I can fit in small spaces well, I am very body aware, and it can make your sex life more interesting

[DhaniNMarie]

The real Elastigirl from The Incredibles lol

[birbhjonk]

“More than 90 degrees.. that is disgusting”

I love her already

[okaykh-o]

"One wrong step and my ankle can pop outts place"
*slings feet over hear while talking*

[sixmercer]

I'm 46 and have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 3. I was always hyperextending my joints and contorting my body because the stretch felt good, or like she said sitting normally in a regular chair (or any chair) was really uncomfortable which I still do, or as party tricks for other people or even just myself to see what more I could do or get a groan or someone covering their eyes but only part way.
I am now in a wheelchair almost full time and am in bed and at home all the time aside from doctor's appointments which I have a lot of.
I have gastroparesis and dysautanomia with severe hyperadrenergic POTS that requires me to take a steroid that has caused a lot of weight gain and other side effects.
My point is, this is fun and crazy and I love proper contortion that is trained into a healthy body. The real circus won't use a person with a condition like ours for anything, especially contortion because it's a proven fact that all of the bending and subluxation and dislocating causes irreparable damage that will cause major problems for the rest of our life. The comment about winding up in a wheelchair..."meh, it happens, I use one sometimes" isn't the attention the EDS community wants to put out as awareness.
I think she is absolutely beautiful. I would have done exactly what she's doing if I had found this circus side show stuff, but I found punk in the 80s which was kind of the same thing, I still got attention for being weird and bendy with stretchy skin. Back then I knew I had something wrong but didn't know my flexibility had anything to do with it, but I had severe pain because my upper ribs in my back would pop out and cause muscle spasms that would bring me to my knees a lot of the time. I had bad shoulders and hips. And my wrists and ankles needed to be popped and cracked almost constantly, still do.
I definitely don't want to bring shame over what she's doing. Have fun, be you! But I think the people who think ruining their futures by destroying their bodies and winding up in a wheelchair with no social life and no more punk shows and fatigue that drags you down so bad you can't even get through a whole shower and POTS causing you to need someone there so you don't fall during the shower....not a good idea to glorify the hypermobility because as cool as it is, it's even more so damaging.

Being in a wheelchair all the time is shitty. I promise. It absolutely sucks no matter how accessible things are, you have to work 3 times harder for everything you do.. With fatigue like mine going anywhere isn't worth it.

I wish everyone with this disorder the very best. I have a port and a PICC line and am on the verge of needing a feeding tube. Just take care of your bodies. Us Zebras need to do that far more than other people and way earlier on. I know this was long. I don't want anyone to think I was dragging her through the dirt for her first year of diagnosis learning how insane her body can be if she tries. It's just not the kind of awareness we need. That also shows doctor's how capable we all should be if they've only ever seen someone like this. Then I go in and they think I'm lying. I have had enough of that. So we all have to be responsible and careful about the message we send out.

[lanijefferson]

Man I wish it was that easy for me to shave my legs omg😑

[smotislawa]

Well, all I can say is good luck with everything. I know you're young and you're having fun now. But one day you WILL regret all this and it's gonna hit you like a ton of bricks. I know we are all different and suffer different symptoms (type 3 here) but it's not ALL about joints and skin. If raising awareness for it, it would be nice to mention that our internal organs, blood vessels etc aren't functioning well too...

[_Creativestar]

I'm a contortionist too.
I'm just afraid to post videos n pictures of myself doing my contortionist tricks because I'm self-conscious.
This girl is amazing, I want to meet her.😄😄😄😄😄

[PurpleBunnyRabbit]

I have EDS too. Mine isn’t “cool” like hers. My ankles and knees hurt like I’m an old woman. I’m 16. My back hurts every day of my life. My mother lives in agony. And btw, olden days circus performers had EDS.

[Sewersquatch]

As someone with Eds its incredibly hard to watch someone injure themselves further. The reality of this condition is living in constant pain, with limited mobility, and a range of other symptoms that make a normal life hard to obtain without constant medication and physical therapy.

[airborneaardvark]

I am just as flexible as her, if not more, and I do have considerable joint pain... I've never been diagnosed, but watching this makes me think that maybe I should see a doctor about my symptoms. Perhaps I can finally find an explanation! Thank you for posting this video, even if it turns out I don't have EDS at least my eyes are open to the possibility. I had never even heard of this, and I always think it's beneficial to learn about new things. Helps us to be more compassionate and understanding.

[urltima]

Whoop! That girl can shave her legs more efficiently than I ever could.