Flexible Woman Can Shapeshift Her Body Thanks To A Chronic Illness

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) which is a rare collagen disorder characterised by unusually stretchy skin and flexible joints and could be confined to a wheelchair in the next 10 years.Show more

Instead of letting 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 genetic condition just one year ago, says that she doesn’t want to turn her diagnosis into a pity party!

Scarlet was flexible her entire life due to a health condition that affects the connective tissue in her body and makes all the ligaments, joints and skin very loose and flexible. She can stretch her skin, can you believe that?

At first she thought that she was naturally very flexible but later she found out that it was actually a genetic condition. She sat in strange positions at the dinner table because that was most comfortable for her. Her stepmom would yell at her for sitting in strange positions! She can shapeshift her body and that comes natural to her, that would usually come as painful and uncomfortable to most people!

She is trying to raise awareness for her condition because the disease from which she is suffering is considered invisible! It is very difficult to get a diagnosis because a lot of doctors don’t know what it is!

She was obsessed with the circus for most of her life, she was in the animals and clowns and acrobats. Two years ago she started performing full time. Currently she performs for a show called ‘the birthday party’ consisted by three clowns and an alien. Her colleagues say that she is very inspiring and uses her disease to her advantage which is very impressive.

The key is being aware of your own body and respecting your limits, and her career goals are very short-term, she just wants to enjoy what she is doing and not ruin her body. Most of all, she enjoys making people laugh!

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