0:01
some might say that scars are
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ugly but scars have given me a purpose
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people probably do make snap judgments
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and they think like where did that scar
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they might be thinking to themselves oh
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gosh i would never want to look like
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i was in a car accident in ghana
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um in between my second and third year
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of university i went over there
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to volunteer our driver tried to
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and there was a car coming in the other
0:36
and basically the whole side of the
0:40
just completely collapsed in i had a
0:44
ribs spine dislocated elbow
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i got chucked onto a metal table in the
0:50
middle of a waiting room and they like
0:53
and they were like can you we're going
0:54
to give you a blood transfusion and
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it was just absolutely it feels like it
1:01
happened it's like an outer body
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experience i'm like just not that person
1:08
scars are largely associated with bond
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villains or associated with something
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ugly never something that you know a
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woman would want to aspire to have
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i hated that i hated that people would
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not wanting people to think oh she's
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never going to feel beautiful she's
1:25
never going to feel confident
1:27
and like purely out of spite i wanted to
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go out there and just prove people wrong
1:32
and that is a great driving force in
1:37
so i started out sharing my story
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an organization in the uk called
1:42
changing faces uk it was set up by a
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wonderful man called james partridge who
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he set up face equality international
1:50
basically to take this
1:51
movement global after he passed away the
1:55
decision was made to promote me to the
1:58
which is terrifying we produced a whole
2:02
load of materials to kind of
2:03
de-stigmatize the conversation on
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disfigurement and to amplify the voices
2:08
of our community and it's
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such a vital equality movement
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worldwide it's so funny i
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started out as me not wanting to define
2:19
myself by my appearance
2:20
and now i've basically based my entire
2:24
and it's given me a real sense of
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i never would have thought that fitness
2:30
would be a big part of my life and all
2:31
of my friends who i grew up with
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probably are just as shocked as i am
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because i was always the last kid to get
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six months after my car accident i did a
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and then like a year and a bit
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afterwards i did a full marathon
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i think that's probably why i enjoy it
2:49
so much now is because
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i'm constantly proving myself wrong
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there's no mirrors in the gym you're not
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yourself all of the time it's not about
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losing weight or being slim it's about
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constantly learning new movements and
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seeing what your body can do
3:08
and just supporting each other no matter
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what kind of what functional fitness is
3:14
despite the fact that you get yourself
3:16
into an absolute pain cave every night
3:19
it's horrendous at the time and you hate
3:23
adrenaline you get and the feeling that
3:25
you get afterwards and
3:27
you know it's you you're totally wiped
3:30
but it's it's properly addictive
3:36
when you hit a big lift you just feel
3:40
as particularly as a woman i think
3:42
feeling powerful like that it's a it's a
3:44
reminder it's like a self-esteem boost
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as well it's like wow i can really do
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things i can really do things that make
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and it kind of set me on the path to
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want to reshape the narrative on scars
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being a positive thing if i
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go out there with a smile on my face and
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try and disarm people in that way
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just go and prove to them and prove them
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wrong and i can still be happy i can
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despite the way that i look
