Jaina Mistry

Every body has a story.

From exercise virgin to aspiring blind fitness model

I grew up as a typical teenager.

I was at college studying my A levels.

I loved being independent and hanging out with my friends.

Like a lot of teens my age, I experienced some body image issues. My weight fluctuated up and down. it made me feel self conscious at times. I wasn’t eating healthy and I hated exercise. Aside from that, I felt relatively happy, healthy and was excited about moving onto university.

Before we continue with the story, let's get back to the body image issues.

As a kid, I totally hated PE. I was always the last to be picked for any sports team and tried every excuse to wriggle my way out of exercising.

In my teens, I tried dieting. I joined Weight Watchers and followed a number of different programs. But the results were always short-term. Looking back, I know that I wasn’t ready to commit to getting fit and healthy. My mind just wasn’t in it.

Coming down with an extremely rare illness that left me fighting for my life, I was prescribed penicillin to treat a fever. Unfortunately my doctors (nor I) knew that I was allergic to it. Within hours, I experienced painful blistering to my eyes, skin and throat. The situation became critical and I was rushed to intensive care. By then, I had already experience severe damage to my internal organs.

The doctors eventually diagnosed me with a rare condition, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, a severe form of Stevens Johnson’s Syndrome (SJS). This is a disease that affects only 1 in 3 million people. My family and I were shocked to learn that I was one of those people.

I felt like I was burning from the inside out. Severe blistering to 60% of my skin left me with open wounds. I had to be treated as a third-degree burn victim.

I was in a coma-like state for 10 days.

I was on a cocktail of intravenous medication.

I was in the hospital for 3 months.

I knew that I needed to get healthy to improve my quality of life, but I wasn’t sure how. So I did what most people do. I thought about joining a gym. In the end I decided to find a personal trainer. This was no piece of cake however. I made phone call after phone call to different gyms, targeted trainers who looked interesting. And was rejected by one trainer after another. I was just too risky a client with my visual impairment and lung condition. At this point, I dug deep, relying on the mental strength that I’d generated when I was at hospital. I didn’t give up in my search, and was finally referred to a trainer who would meet with me.

My first trainer didn’t have experience working with someone with my condition, but was willing to learn and fully supported me in my fitness journey. I wasn’t the most enthusiastic client when we got started, whinging and complaining about how hard everything was and using diversion tactics to get out of doing the exercises. He was patient and encouraging, keeping me focussed on my fitness goals and not letting me wriggle my way out of things. But it was up to me to put in the graft.

So I began to change my mindset about exercise to keep motivated, and before I knew it, my body began to experience changes and my confidence began to grow. I set the small goal of wanting to lose a certain amount of weight for a family wedding. Not only did I smash my goal, but the pendulum of my mindset completely shifted. I was hooked!

In 2014, I was hospitalised for 2 months. In spite of my new healthy and active lifestyle, my lung collapsed again. I was told that my lung might not fully recover. Determined not to allow this setback to disempower me, I decided to work with my diagnosis and turned my attention to focussing on my fitness again.

Every setback is a setup for a greater comeback.

I was determined to get stronger, fitter and into the best shape of my life. With renewed focus I met another outstanding PT, Lewis, with whom I continue to work today. I had lost a lot of fitness and my confidence was a little broken when I got back into the gym. Lewis took the time to listen and understand, and he inspired me to believe in myself again.

Fast forward to 2017, and my journey shows how I have gone from strength to strength:

• In 2013, I won a Member Achievement Award at the National Fitness Awards.
• In 2014 I qualified as the first blind female fitness instructor in the UK.
• I’ve encouraged numerous individuals to start their own fitness journeys.
• I’ve set new goals and challenges so that I keep getting stronger, physically and mentally.

So every BODY has a story beyond the surface. Even me. I never would have known what my body was capable of, and I am living proof that hope, faith and determination really do pay off.