This Fitness Fanatic Won't Let Her Brittle Bones Stop Her

She is young and brimming with vigor - and she won’t let her brittle bone condition get in the way of her fitness goals! Jasmine Manuel is only 22 years old, but she suffers from Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type 3, a severe type of disorder of the bones, making them incredibly susceptible to fractures. That is the reason why she is much shorter than other women her age.Show more

The severely brittle bones are not her only issue. Jasmine also suffers from severe scoliosis and has to move around in a power chair. But the fitness fanatic, who is also a student at Kennesaw State University and produces music under the pseudonym “Mini Producer”, uses her condition and stoic mental attitude to advocate for disabled fitness.

“I like working out because it’s proving that I can do it. A lot of doctors have said different things about what I was going to be capable of, and every day I am just proving that I got this. I can do whatever.” Jasmine says. “I don’t have time to pity myself because there is nothing to feel sorry for, this is what it is… I don’t really have a choice but to be positive and live my life.”

The heroine says she has broken anywhere between 100 and 200 bones in her lifetime and has undergone 22 surgeries. Still, these setbacks have not slowed her down - she has even taken on Fitness guru Shaun T’s Insanity Max 30 workout regimen. Her program has her doing push-ups, crunches and using all sorts of gym equipment on her university campus.

She admits she was just curious if she could do it. But after seeing how she could work out without her bones breaking, she kept persevering and now has even started training another woman who is also in a chair, which she says gives her a great sense of pride.