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WHEN Truly met Choon in 2020, we discovered how he navigated life with X-linked spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda, a rare form of dwarfism, whilst achieving incredible accomplishments as a bodybuilder. This time around, Choon has plenty of exciting updates. "My son Gabriel was born as the tallest baby in the North London home birth team, which was crazy, because I'm 4ft 6", he explained. As well as being a doting dad, Choon has been working hard to help other people with dwarfism achieve their dreams. He explained, "I've been performing for quite a few years now and I've partnered with companies and founded my own brand where people approach me to hire people with dwarfism." In this new episode of Born Different, Choon will give us the lowdown of what he's been up to since we saw him - from becoming a dad to launching his exciting new business - it's safe to say, he's been busy!
Watch Choon's original Born Different episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgJP6MxZrkY
Follow Choon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imchoontan/
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0:00
My son Gabriel was born as the smallest baby in the North London home birth team
0:04
which was crazy because obviously I'm four foot six. Shane, thank you for joining us
0:09
Obviously we first saw you in 2020 on Born Different. So just remind people why you were born different last time
0:18
I'm the smallest bodybuilder in the UK. My condition is called X-Link Spondylopithysio-Dysplasia Tata
0:24
which basically stunts the growth of your spine, if you have it
0:28
and can cause a bit of back issues, back pain. So I got diagnosed when I was in high school
0:35
I think I was about 12, 13. And yeah, it didn't really hit me at the time
0:40
It sort of hit me later on in life when I realised I'm going to be a lot more different from everyone else
0:45
and have different challenges. And I have to learn how to navigate life differently
0:50
My height now is 138 centimetres. I was 4 foot 6. In the Other Born Different episode
0:56
you mentioned how you know initially it affected your confidence so could you just go into that a
1:03
bit more yeah so it affected my confidence in high school because I couldn't stand up for myself
1:07
against other people who you know could see that was vulnerable and would pick on me and bully me
1:11
so that was really challenging and in terms of like girls and like relationships I didn't feel
1:18
confident at first I was like oh you know what they're not going to want me because I'm I'm shorter
1:23
I got into bodybuilding when I was 17 years old at college. Bodybuilding helped me because it made
1:29
me change the way that I see myself, that I could control things, you know, that are not about my
1:35
height. I can change a lot of things about my life, my confidence, my fitness, my nutrition
1:40
my mental health, and that was just a big turning point for me. And then obviously competing in
1:45
bodybuilding and competing in other sports, Ninja Warrior UK, there were all like big obstacles in
1:51
my life where I overcame those fears and those challenges. I could feel that I changed as a person just being able to go and jump on stage and do this routine you know like almost naked when there little bodybuilding trunks
2:05
It's just exhilarating and it was like always my dream. I know obviously you had those dreams, but did you ever imagine that you would actually achieve them all
2:12
No, I didn't imagine that I'd actually do it because there wasn't much, I just say, opportunity for little people to compete in boxing and stuff
2:22
And the opportunities come about nowadays. So obviously we filmed with you last in 2020. What does life look like for you now
2:30
So I got into a long-term relationship which unfortunately hasn't been that smooth towards
2:39
the end of it but we had a beautiful son together which was amazing. My son's name is Gabriel
2:44
and he's a little sweetheart. He's a very energetic baby. He was actually the tallest
2:49
baby born in the North London home birth team which was crazy because obviously I'm four for
2:54
six luckily he's got my eyes and nose because I wouldn't think he was mine otherwise he's like so
2:58
tall and so handsome but yeah he's a he's a beautiful beautiful child oh congratulations
3:04
that's so lovely and so going back to your condition is it hereditary at all my condition
3:09
is hereditary but when we saw the genesis he said that if I had a son he wouldn't have my
3:15
condition but if i had a daughter then she could be affected by it and she would carry the condition
3:19
and pass it down to her kids so i was always praying for a son right that's so interesting
3:24
and your ex-partner gabriel's mom um i'm assuming is she of average height yes so gabriel's mom is
3:32
i think five foot seven so she's quite a tall lady and gabriel how old is he now so gabriel is
3:40
nearly two. I think he must be like 10 or 12 kilos, kilograms enough. But he's very, very heavy for me to carry
3:46
So when I'm holding Gabriel, his head would be here, obviously, and then his legs will probably go down past my waist
3:53
And yeah he be quite quite far into carrying for a long long period of time And aside from being a dad to Gabriel we discussed briefly before your new business that you set up
4:05
to get people with dwarfism work. So yeah, tell me a bit about that
4:09
I've been performing and doing events and filming for quite a few years now
4:13
And I partnered with some companies and founded my own sort of brand where people approached me
4:20
to hire other people with dwarfism. and we will hire them out for events, music videos
4:27
and sort of productions for a different company. I set up my company so people with dwarfism
4:35
would have more opportunities to get paid really well. I had a lot of people who can't work full-time
4:42
because of their condition because they get a lot of pain. So this paid really well and they wouldn't be underpaid
4:48
One of the guys, he went and applied for a lot of jobs as a chef, but when he got there and did the interview, he could see their demeanour towards him changed
4:59
And because he had dwarfism, they rejected his applications, even though he had the qualifications and everything was perfect on paper
5:07
So yeah, I think there is quite some difficulties around people with dwarfism getting maybe nine to five because they'd have to adjust things for them or think they wouldn't be suitable because of their obstacles
5:23
Oh, that must feel so nice to be able to help people like that. It's a bodybuilding. I think you said you're not competing anymore. Is that right
5:30
Yeah, so I'm not competing in bodybuilding anymore. So I've started in boxing and other combat sports as well. So the boxing, kickboxing, MMA is all like against other people with dwarfism. And I think it's a really good opportunity because people with dwarfism should be allowed to compete in it and be taken seriously. It's taken off and it's got a big spotlight on it
5:51
That's great. And it must again it must just feel so good to sort of see things progressing and more equal opportunities Yeah yeah I love to see it like the paralympics as well if they want to box and they love to do it you know then they can be
6:06
stopped to do that yeah absolutely yo yeah what's up good man so rounding things up i suppose first
6:17
of all what do you hope to sort of teach your son gabriel through your own journey and experiences
6:23
that you've had so far? I want to teach Gabriel confidence, how to be confident in yourself
6:29
which I believe a big part of it is fitness. So being confident in your body
6:33
and trying to push your body to what it's capable of. He can take what I've learned from my condition
6:41
and my struggles and my challenges. He can use it for his own life
6:45
I teach him all of the experiences that I went through, like the hardships, like the good and bad
6:51
Just tell him everything because there's lessons from that that he can take
6:54
and he doesn't have to go through it himself. That's so nice
6:58
You're going to be such a good role model for him and really inspiring with everything that you've achieved as well
7:04
Thank you. And what does the future look like for you? I want to do a bit more travelling
7:09
and potentially more boxing fights. And then finally, what would you say to people with wolfism
7:17
who might be struggling with their confidence? just to find something that they can control find something that you're passionate about
7:25
so it could be you know if you can do rock climbing if you can do bodybuilding if you can
7:29
do badminton whatever it is find something that you're passionate about like physically because
7:33
that that is what i find gives you confidence Thank you