Girl, six, with muscular dystrophy becomes internet star with exercise social media videos

Move over Joe Wicks, there’s another social media exercise star.

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.

After trying out some of Joe Wicks’ workouts, she decided to create some of her own for people with weakened muscles like her and now she’s had thousands of likes and comments.

Her mum Lucy, from Market Lavington, in Wiltshire, says the support has helped to cheer Carmela up during her 12 weeks in isolation, as she is in the high-risk group.

Carmela’s condition causes her muscles to waste away as she grows. It also causes joint contractures, which are only released through surgery and not standard stretching, respiratory insufficiency develop requiring intervention and cardiac conduction abnormalities can also occur. 

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
Carmela doing her exercises at home (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

She was diagnosed when she was three after her parents noticed she wasn’t developing normally. It took a year of tests before they found out what was wrong.

Lucy tells Metro.co.uk: ‘She copes quite well considering, even though she suffers daily with muscle and joint pain and discomfort.

‘She has to deal with obstacles and challenges on a daily basis but she tackles them face on with a positive attitude.

‘Carmela is still fairly mobile on her feet but tires and falls easily requiring her to use a wheelchair and walker to get about and last the day.

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
Carmela with her therapy puppy in the garden (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

‘To support Carmela’s body and provide stability as she grows and the condition progresses, Carmela wears a helmet outside, a neck collar for some activities, a body lycra suit under her daily clothes and leg AFO braces.

‘Carmela is currently doing well with her condition but is unable to climb up and down steps without assistance, unable to walk on uneven or tough terrain like rocks and sand. She struggles to bend down and stand up and her arms have lost a lot of weakness lately making it difficult to just scratch her head and hold an ice cream.’

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
Carmela has LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

When lockdown was introduced, Lucy and Carmela were told to stay at home because of her condition, which means she isn’t able to go to school or physical therapy appointments.

‘Being in lockdown and sitting more than usual has caused Carmela’s body to stiffen with increased discomfort and daily fatigue,’ Lucy says.

‘She is also having more sad days because her body is not allowing her to do things she can normally do without discomfort and limitations, which she would normally not notice because of being kept busy at school and off-site therapy exercise activities.

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
Lucy is now sharing her exercise videos on social media (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

‘Carmela has also been unable to attend her regular hospital appointments so the monitoring of her progression has been put on hold until it is safe to return to normal daily life, however, she has been having phone calls from her therapists checking up on her which is comforting.’

To help, keep Carmela’s body from seizing up and reduce discomfort, she has been doing therapy twice a day at home.

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
She sometimes struggles to do things with her arms because of the weakness (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

Lucy adds: ‘This can get very boring for Carmela so we started to include ‘The Body Coach’ live online exercise sessions with Joe Wicks as part of the daily therapy regime.

‘Carmela found him very motivating and uplifted her mood considerably. She was only able to do five minutes and adapt most of the exercises to suit her ability but Joe Wicks The Body Coach inspired her to say “Mummy, I could do this for people like me!”‘

Carmela started her own videos, giving herself the name The Lockdown Physio Kid.

Carmela Chillery-Watson is a six-year-old living with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy.
She also uses a wheelchair to get around (Picture: Lucy Chillery-Watson)

A natural on camera, she explains some of the exercises she does each day.

Lucy says: ‘Carmela chooses exercises from her normal daily therapy routine provided by her paediatric physiotherapist and teaches it on video to share on her social media pages.

‘Creating these short video clips has given her a new lease of life and purpose during the lockdown, but having seen the thousands of likes and hundreds of positive comments has really motivated Carmela to want to do more and has llifted her mood which has helped her forget about her condition whilst she is kept busy.’

It’s also helped to take her mind off missing her daddy, who is not allowed to come home because he is a keyworker delivering coronavirus virus samples, bloods and equipment between hospitals around the UK.

To avoid the risk of contamination at home, he has to stay away from Carmela.

Lucy adds: ‘It’s so much for a little girl to deal with but she is is coping really well, considering.’

You can follow Carmela’s daily exercise videos on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/14/girl-six-muscular-dystrophy-becomes-viral-star-exercise-social-media-videos-12554645/?ITO=squid
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