At the age of 15 Katie was diagnosed with crippling conditions disc degenerative disease and spinal stenosis. The 25 year old calls them ‘the granny diseases’ because they result in loss of mobility, pain and paralysis. Katie used to be again leading an active life after surgery as well as some months of rehabilitation. She was able to enjoy badminton, horse riding and ballet. But the recovery only lived for a small period. And 4 years later she under went major $urg*ery as the pain got wo*rse.
She said, ‘I felt a pain on the back of my right leg and truly felt like For being getting dead legs. I went to the GP and initially they thought exercises, diet tips just sciatica - which was still surprising for someone my age to get, but then everything just spiraled. I woke up and it was the sc@rie$t thing ever. I thought: I cannot feel my lower half.’
Before Katie can take her first steps again, it took her over every year of intense physio. Her right leg remained largely immobile despite the fact that she gained back most feeling in her left leg. It took her more than a year to learn walking again. Models of Diversity is a charity and they approached Katie during her rehabilitation simply wanted to promote a more diverse representation of beauty in the fashion industry.
She said, ‘It’s been my dream since I any little girl to provide a solicitor but at the same time when I got ill and the modelling opportunity emerged it gave me confidence and gave my life back in time. We’ve got a few disabled models however are not plus sort of. We don’t even have any household plus-sized models over here - we call Kelly Brook large size - I just call her sweet! People have got it ingrained in the male mind that beauty looks like one thing and disability isn’t factored in that by the fashion industry or newspapers.’
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