Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes it just so happens to come in the shape and size of a giant pole. Such is the case for one English beauty whose life was saved by pole dancing.
While most 15-year-olds are worrying about getting a summer job, rounding third base, and running out of Visine after smoking an apple with their fam, Mercedes Valentine was grappling with a life-changing diagnosis that left her bedridden. Known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the condition affects connective tissue throughout the body, causing bone dislocations, blood vessel ruptures, and restrictive lung disease.
In the case of Valentine, the onset of symptoms came hard and fast. “Being bed-bound and just unable to do anything left me really depressed. I couldn’t even do the most basic things, like hug my mom. Every time she did, it would dislocate my shoulder,” Valentine recalls.
After she was forced to go to prom in a wheelchair, she decided something had to change. Making physical therapy her new religion, Valentine relearned how to sit up, preventing dislocation of her fingers by constantly squeezing things. In time, she was able to walk again.
That’s when she set her sights on pole dancing. The rest is history.
Now 21, Valentine has completely transformed her body, defying the odds through sheer determination. With a work ethic that just won’t quit (among other things), she stays one step ahead of her condition. So next time your significant other scoffs at you for doing jumping jacks in the buff, just show her the pole. (Or these jaw-dropping pics below.)
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Cover Photo: BraunS (Getty Images)
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