KANISHA was just four years old when her family home caught on fire, tragically taking two of her brothers' lives. While Kanisha survived the accident, she sustained burns to 60% of her body. Speaking to Truly, she explained: "I also was burned down to the third layer of my skull, so I am able to grow my hair back. I lost an ear lobe and they had to take fingers from both hands as they were so badly burned." For Kanisha, her life-changing injuries meant that she was subjected to cruel taunts in the playground. "Kids were mean, they were bullies. They would pull my wigs off. I was never called by my first name. I was called 'the burned girl' or 'the girl with the lizard skin'", she explained. The negative comments knocked Kanisha's confidence and she admitted, "They made me feel like the world was a very cruel place. Because no matter how happy or how much I tried to boost myself up, when I went out into the world, people were still staring." However, when Kanisha became a mum, her kids totally changed her perspective on her appearance. She explained: "When your own children are born, they don't notice your scars. They know mum just how she was. So I stopped paying attention to my scars after that." In this episode of Shake My Beauty, we'll hear about Kanisha's journey and how accepting - and celebrating - how she looks, has totally transformed her life. Reflecting, Kanisha said: "You are you and that's what makes you beautiful."
Follow Kanisha here - https://www.instagram.com/kanishaanthony/
Follow Kanisha here - https://www.instagram.com/kanishaanthony/
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00:00 I'm Kanisha and I was in a house fire that caused 60% of burns on my body.
00:05 I had to learn how to do basically everything all over again.
00:09 I was called the burnt girl or the girl with the lizard skin or the alligator skin.
00:15 When your own children are born, they don't notice your scars.
00:19 They know that this is how they were born.
00:21 So it just took my eyes off of my scars and just completely onto my children.
00:28 My name is Kanisha and I am 34 years old.
00:32 I live with my husband and my three kids.
00:35 I love to make things.
00:36 I love anything where I can just simply be creative.
00:40 I was four years old when our house caught on fire.
00:43 We don't exactly know how it happened.
00:45 It was me and my mom and my three brothers that were in that fire.
00:51 And my mom and my one brother were on one side of the house, but the flames were kind
00:54 of in the middle and on the other side of the house.
00:58 Two of my brothers were in one room and they were not able to make it out alive.
01:03 And I was actually pulled out of the window by a police officer that happened to find
01:08 my big toe and pulled me out.
01:11 I was burned on over 60% of my body.
01:15 And I also was burned down to the third layer of my skull.
01:19 So I am unable to grow my hair back.
01:22 I lost an earlobe and they had to take my fingers off of both hands, three off this
01:29 hand and one off this because they were so badly burned.
01:33 When you're in a house fire, they do a lot of skin grafts.
01:36 So even on the good parts of your body, they now become burns as well.
01:41 So it basically took over my whole body.
01:46 I was in between the hospital and rehab for about a year.
01:50 I was getting surgeries for months at a time and they basically felt that I wouldn't make
01:55 it out.
01:56 They set me up for my last surgery and they basically told my family that she either is
02:02 not going to make it out of this surgery or if she does make it out, she's just going
02:06 to be in a vegetable state for the rest of her life.
02:09 And so the crazy part was the doctors were pushing me back to the surgery room and all
02:15 my vital signs just turned on.
02:18 It was quite a miracle.
02:20 I had to learn how to do basically everything all over again.
02:24 I had to learn how to walk and I had to wear diapers again at almost five years old.
02:30 And I also had to learn how to use my hands again because I was actually left-handed before
02:36 the fire.
02:37 And so through therapy and rehab, they kind of taught me how to use my right hand.
02:42 And there was a lot of different changes that I had to make, including learning to wear
02:46 wigs again and covering that up.
02:50 Kids were mean.
02:51 They were bullies.
02:52 They would pull my wigs off and they would play tag with them at recess.
02:57 I was never called by my first name.
02:59 I was called the burnt girl or the girl with the lizard skin or the alligator skin, anything
03:05 besides what my actual name was.
03:08 And it brung my self-esteem down a lot.
03:11 It made me feel like the world was a very cruel place because no matter how happy or
03:17 how much I tried to boost myself up when I went out into the world, people were still
03:23 staring.
03:24 They were still pointing.
03:25 They would ask ridiculous questions like, "Does your daughter have a disease?"
03:30 So I just pretended to be happy all the time and just smiling no matter what.
03:35 But on the inside, I was just really sad.
03:38 My friend Cece is coming over.
03:40 She is my stylist and she's also a burn survivor.
03:43 She's really helped me get comfortable with modeling and clothes and learning different
03:48 styles of clothing too.
03:49 When I was younger, I used to want to be a model.
03:53 And I was told by a few people that, "Oh, you could have been a model if you did not
03:59 have scars, if you did not have burns."
04:01 And so it kind of discouraged me.
04:03 And then I met this beautiful soul and she was like, "You absolutely can model."
04:09 And she started just building that confidence.
04:12 I have a shop that I wanted to give back to children with burns, like burned, recovered.
04:19 And reached out to you and we met and I was like, "Wow, she's so confident."
04:25 We actually started running a campaign and went both in front of the camera and modeled
04:31 for mine.
04:32 And I'm like, "Kinesha, you have to become my model."
04:34 Hey, I brought you some outfits today.
04:37 So you can check them out and see what you feel comfortable in.
04:40 And so I brought you this cute lime green.
04:44 Oh, I love that.
04:46 Right?
04:47 It looks even better if you wear it.
04:48 This is something that I wouldn't have worn back in the day because it brings a lot of
04:52 attention.
04:53 And I'm all about insane with this because it's so bright.
04:57 I think I like it.
04:58 But hey, now you do.
04:59 Yeah.
05:00 Now you shine, girl.
05:01 I actually met my husband when we were kids.
05:05 We went to a summer camp for burn survivors and we were able to spend time together for
05:10 a week.
05:11 We all looked the same.
05:12 We didn't feel different.
05:13 We were all just felt comfortable being who we are.
05:16 I found people that was like me and I got to meet this beautiful chick as well.
05:23 And even as a young kid for me, I knew that I know there's just something about her.
05:30 She also helped me grow more comfortable with showing my skin, my scars.
05:36 He got me comfortable with taking my wig off in front of people and on camera because it
05:43 just made me feel very beautiful.
05:45 The doctors actually told my family, "Kanisha will probably not be able to bear children
05:51 at all."
05:52 Because of the way my scars were on my stomach, they said that it would not be able to stretch
05:57 at all.
05:58 I actually ended up getting pregnant with my oldest at a young age at 19.
06:04 And it was very scary because I did not know how it was going to go.
06:08 Actually my first kid went a week past his due date and my skin was fine.
06:13 The other two children, my skin did start to stretch and it started to rip on the side.
06:19 And so they had to be induced both about three and a half weeks early because it was so painful
06:25 on the side.
06:27 But each pregnancy was different and I ended up with three very, very healthy, beautiful
06:32 children.
06:33 When your own children are born, they don't notice your scars.
06:37 They know that this is how they were born.
06:39 They know mom just as she was.
06:41 This is what they saw.
06:42 So I stopped paying attention to my scars after that.
06:46 It wasn't until they got a little older when another kid would come up and be like, "What
06:50 happened to your mom?"
06:51 And they'd be like, "Mom, what happened to you?"
06:54 They were so very naive about these scars.
06:57 They never mentioned them.
06:58 They never touched them.
07:00 It was just part of who mom was.
07:03 So it just took my eyes off of my scars and just completely onto my children.
07:08 We work on teaching them to love the skin that they're in no matter what.
07:12 Being a burn survivor changes the way that I teach them because not only for themselves,
07:19 but I'm really big on teaching them not to stare at other people.
07:22 We teach them like, "Hey, can I ask you what your story is?"
07:25 Body positivity is so important.
07:28 We have this one body that we live in for the rest of our lives and we can either talk
07:32 down about it and be ashamed of it or we can just take it to another level and love ourselves
07:39 and the skin that we're in and encourage other people to do the same.
07:43 You are you and that's what makes you beautiful.
07:46 No matter what you do throughout the day, there's nobody that's quite like you and that's
07:51 what makes you who you are.
07:53 [music]
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