Apart from dazzling us on the runway and looking gorgeous in magazine pages, Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls is admirable for her battle with spine disease Scoliosis and the fact that she has never let her diagnosis hold her back in her career. Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, Joan Smalls covers the October 2014 issue of Self Magazine as she talks about her eating habits, living healthy and being diagnosed with scoliosis.
Read up excerpts from her interview below:
On being diagnosed with Scoliosis at age 14: “The lower half of my spine was inside out. I started crying. I couldn’t believe that was inside my body. I’m not going to use this as a handicap. I’m going to push myself harder.”
On taking up boxing at age 17, to combat Scoliosis: “People might think that because I’m skinny and tall, I’m fragile. But I always knew I wasn’t. And it’s comforting to know that I can throw a proper punch if I have to.”
On why she workouts and has a steady diet of fruit and vegetables: “I want to last in my career, and that relies on the way my body performs. So I need to take care of it. I need to push myself. I don’t want to be on such a strict diet that I don’t have fun. So if I eat sweets, I’ll just put in more of an effort when I go to the gym.”
To read the full interview and learn more about Joan Smalls go here.
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