When Ayesha Jones was jokingly called by a doctor “a beautiful girl with a curved back”, she was devastated.
Ayesha Jones as a photo model. Photo: News Dog. |
The 24-year-old girl, who has severe scoliosis that curves her spine, has proved to everyone the strength within her, having once been a successful model.
“Looking back on the road I have travelled, I realise that becoming a model was a way for me to affirm that I am beautiful. I did not want the doctor’s words to come true”, Ayesha, from Birmingham, England, said. “I devoted my whole mind to becoming a model and to proving that, apart from the disability in my back, I am as attractive and appealing as any other girl”.
According to Express, Ayesha was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 13. Doctors said she needed a rather risky operation to place a metal rod in her back to treat the curvature of her spine.
“My mother took me to see a doctor after the family finished a holiday in the West Indies. It was the first time she had seen me in a bikini and realised that my right shoulder blade stuck out much more than other people’s”, Ayesha said.
When the doctor advised surgery, Ayesha refused because she did not yet feel pain or any unusual symptoms in her spine. “When the doctor said that if I did not have the operation to put a metal rod inside, I would only be “a beautiful girl with a curved back”, I was deeply hurt. From that very moment, I was determined not to give up”, she recalled.
Ayesha, beautiful and confident in her photos. Photo: News Dog. |
In 2003, Ayesha went to see the Clothes Show, held every year in Birmingham, and was spotted by a leading modelling agency in England.
She called the agency’s office directly to say honestly that her back was curved, and heard them discussing it among themselves and expressing concern. From then on, they never contacted her again. Ayesha was spotted many times, only to be rejected again because of this disability. Even so, Ayesha kept training and learning how to pose to hide her own impairment.
Ayesha gradually became famous on the internet and began to be paid as a model without needing to work for any professional modelling agency. When she had just turned 19, Ayesha failed for the first time when she was turned down for a photo shoot because of her back disability. “I had to travel by myself from Birmingham down to London for the photo shoot and was sent home by the photographer without being paid a penny, just because of my back”, Ayesha recalled.
That was also when Ayesha realised she had focused too much on her appearance and decided to change careers. She studied photography at the University of Lancashire, Preston, and worked for the company Visual Art.
“I realised that my body is the most important thing; if it is healthy, so am I. I want people with disabilities like me to live useful lives instead of merely existing”, Ayesha confided.
She has also published an autobiography called “Imperfect”, recording her struggle with her own body. Ayesha now also works with the “People with Scoliosis in the UK” fund and will launch a photography exhibition about people with scoliosis to raise funds in June next year.
Huong Duong