TALENTED 20-year-old makeup artist, Claudia, was born with a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa - also known as EB. The condition causes a lack of collagen, which in turn means her skin is extremely fragile and blisters into wounds that can cover "up to 80% of [her] body." Nurses come in daily to painstakingly remove all Claudia's bandages, clean her wounds and then re-dress them again - a process that can take up to four hours. As well as regular pain medications, these maintenance measures allow Claudia to go about the rest of her day - but EB is progressive and there is no cure, so her condition has deteriorated over time. Her fingers and toes have gradually "fused together" over the years and she has been left with only four fingers remaining on one hand. Claudia's parents, Elizabeth and Gary, provided all of her care growing up and had to develop best practices to protect her skin "on instinct." They have witnessed the gradual progression of her condition and felt helpless at times - but more so due to the social isolation their daughter experienced as a teenager: "We watched her, for six years, suffer the loneliness. You can't fix that as a parent, you can't make friends for your child." But Claudia found an outlet for herself during her tough high school years when she was inspired by watching makeup artists online. At the age of 13, she picked up a makeup brush for the first time and has never looked back - in the years since, she has developed into a "pure artist" and has recorded makeup content from her dressing table at home, which she posts to her rapidly growing fanbase on social media. This, as well as several media appearances in support of Debra Ireland - a charity funding research into potential treatments and cures for EB - has thrust Claudia into the spotlight and she has exciting options open to her as she embarks on the next stage of her career. Her parents couldn't be prouder: "You'd have to live with Claudia to be aware of the challenges that have been put in her way and she has overcome every single one of them... She is still here, still fighting physically and mentally." And Claudia's resilience is stronger than ever as she looks ahead to the future: "My achievements have definitely boosted my self-confidence - realising that you can do great things, no matter what the circumstances are. You have this disability, but you have defied the odds in many ways."
Follow Claudia:
https://www.instagram.com/claudia.elizabeth.scanlon
https://www.tiktok.com/@claudiascanlon
Follow Claudia:
https://www.instagram.com/claudia.elizabeth.scanlon
https://www.tiktok.com/@claudiascanlon
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00My fused hands will not stop me from becoming a world-class make-up artist.
00:05My rare skin condition affects over 80% of my body.
00:09Currently, there's no cure and it is a progressive condition.
00:13Over time, my fingers and digits have fused together and that has made me have to adapt.
00:19My achievements have definitely boosted my self-confidence.
00:22Realising that if you have this disability, but you have defied the odds in many ways.
00:27My day in this has been amazing.
00:29What do you think of Chloe's new look?
00:35So, these are my pain medications.
00:38I usually take these three or four times a day on top of a pain patch that I wear seven days a week.
00:44Epidermolysis bullosa is a rare genetic skin condition.
00:48My body cannot create collagen, which is basically the glue that holds my layers of skin together.
00:56So, I'm extremely fragile and delicate and I can have wounds up to 80% of my body.
01:03So, the nurses that are here right now, one of them comes twice a week, the other comes three times a week.
01:10I have nurses and I have medical staff that come in and do a dressing change.
01:14Taking all the old bandages off and redressing all the wounds, which probably is the longest part of the whole process.
01:21On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, it takes four hours and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, it takes an hour.
01:30Why is it so important to be changed so frequently?
01:32I'm extremely open to infections like sepsis. I'm prone to skin cancer.
01:38So, if I don't look after my skin, my skin won't look after me.
01:42Currently, there's no cure for AB and it is a progressive condition.
01:46So, I will get worse over time and I've already seen the side effects of that.
01:51My wounds are a lot worse than they used to be.
01:54My hands have fused together. I have a total of four whole fingers left.
01:59I've lost all my toes. They have completely fused together.
02:03So, about four years ago, I stopped fully walking.
02:06I could be a lot worse, but I could be a lot better.
02:10Hello.
02:11Hello.
02:12How are you?
02:13Good. Do you want tea?
02:14Yes, please.
02:17This scrapbook is dedicated to my beautiful little girl, Claudia.
02:20It's a collection of all our happy memories of your mum.
02:25I look spaced out now.
02:29You could see the tongue was swollen.
02:31Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:33But you were always happy.
02:34Yeah.
02:35Always smiling.
02:37That's the day we were taking you home and we had got the diagnosis,
02:42the full diagnosis, the same day.
02:44When we were given the diagnosis, we were shocked.
02:48AB can't be detected in the womb, so it only unfolded.
02:52When Claudia was born, that was our first experience of travelling with you.
02:57It was hard.
02:58So, your dad is in the pool with you there and you're swimming with all your bandages on
03:03and I stood at the bank and Dad put you up like that
03:06and then I wrapped you in a towel and I had to run from there through the foyer, the hotel,
03:10up into the room and then start your bandages then.
03:14It was hard for my parents. I know that. They really struggled.
03:18They're doing this for the first time, they don't know what they're doing.
03:21So they were doing what they could on instinct.
03:25It's like being in a different world where you've no answers
03:29and nobody really gave you the answers at the start.
03:33And you only found out how hard it was going to be as it was happening.
03:38From the day that Claudia was born, our lives changed forever.
03:43I dissociate from these pictures because it doesn't feel like me.
03:47Like, I look at that baby and it doesn't look like me.
03:51With the brown hair and the good skin, it looks like a different child.
03:55I've always struggled with my looks, especially as I've gotten older.
04:00The expectations of a girl are so high
04:05and the standards you have to live up to.
04:08My condition goes against all of those things.
04:11For most of the time in secondary school, I was ignored, I was shunned, completely looked over.
04:17I've always struggled with friendships.
04:19Doesn't mean I don't have friends anymore.
04:24You can't fix it as a parent. You can't make friends for your child.
04:29We watched her for six years suffer.
04:32The loneliness, the isolation.
04:35I'm the only person that understands myself
04:38and sometimes I couldn't explain to my parents.
04:42They can't say, I know how you feel or I wish I could take it away from you
04:47when you know that's never going to happen.
04:50So there's no point in even saying that to someone.
04:53But also, they have been always there for me
04:57and I know I can go to them.
04:59So I'm very lucky to have the support system that I do
05:02and I think that's how I got through most of it.
05:05I think it made her stronger.
05:07I admire that she's sitting here today.
05:09It's like she has been to hell and back
05:12and is still here, still fighting, physically and mentally.
05:18When I was becoming a pre-teen teenager,
05:21I was the generation that watched a lot of Emiways on YouTube.
05:27So I'm going to start with primer.
05:30I think that kind of turned on a little spark for me.
05:34I love to create something like that.
05:36It was something I could set my mind on
05:38and have a goal to reach towards,
05:41which is what I've done.
05:45So I started content creation when I was about 13
05:49because people had seen me for Debra Island many times,
05:54my charity.
05:55I had been on TV a few times
05:57or in a newspaper article.
05:59I think once they saw that I was on my own social media,
06:03people liked to see that side of things of me,
06:06not just from a campaigning point of view.
06:08I've had lovely messages of people saying that
06:12I've helped them and other people with my condition
06:15have reached out and said that
06:17I really look up to you and it's lovely to hear.
06:21So I'm doing a full natural dram look.
06:26This is the look that makes me feel most pretty.
06:29Once I was getting into my last few months of school,
06:32I kind of said to my mum and dad,
06:34I think there's this course I'd like to attend.
06:37College was just teaching me the professions as a model
06:41and how you can become good in the industries.
06:46I finished about a year ago
06:48and hope to be working very, very soon.
06:54What do you think of Claudia's new look?
06:56I love it.
06:58She's very talented.
06:59To watch her doing it, it's actually amazing to watch.
07:04It's like a pure artist at work.
07:06So I think she has the eye and the talent
07:09to go as far as she wants.
07:14I have many dreams and aspirations.
07:18I hope to maybe do fashion someday.
07:21I'd like to work with brands,
07:23maybe make my own makeup line one day.
07:26But you know what, I'm just happy to be here right now
07:30and whatever tomorrow brings, it brings.
07:33You'd have to live with Claudia and experience her life
07:36to be aware of the challenges that have been put in her way
07:39and she has overcome every single one.
07:43She put her head down because it's what she wanted to do.
07:47She passed her grades, went to college.
07:49The future is on its way.
07:51My achievements have definitely boosted my self-confidence.
07:55Realising that, hey, you can do great things
07:58no matter what the circumstances are.
08:01You have this disability, but you have to fight the odds in many ways.
08:07Will you be doing your daddy's makeup anytime soon?
08:09I have suggested that.
08:10She promised.
08:11I did suggest.
08:12She still hasn't done it yet.
08:13I want false eyelashes on, yeah.
08:16Apply now to own your audience at www.auxmode.com