I Can't Breathe Or Walk - But I Can Model | SHAKE MY BEAUTY

A 22-YEAR-OLD blogger is embarking on a career as a model despite suffering from a rare generative disease. At eight months old, Vita Bernik's parents noticed she wasn’t meeting the milestones the same as other kids her age. After numerous doctor visits, Vita, from Slovenia, was eventually diagnosed with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) type 2. With time, her muscles became weaker and weaker and various cases of pneumonia made her condition even worse, also damaging Vita’s vocal cords. At the age of 21, Vita was forced to wear a BiPAP, a breathing support device 24/7. In 2017 there was a glimmer of hope when the first ever treatment for SMA became available. However, during the initial testing, doctors found that Vita didn’t actually have SMA after all. Since then doctors have been unable to diagnose Vita properly. Vita’s illness caused plenty of insecurities during her teenage years. She told Truly: “When I got to my teenage years, I lost a lot of weight, which made me more self-conscious.” The turning point came last year, when a photographer reached out to Vita via social media, asking her to model for him. Since then, Vita has been scooped up by a prestigious modeling agency. Vita added: “I think I am challenging accepted beauty standards by modeling, I think it’s great to have models that are different.”