Emma Daniels has been taking her followers into her recovery journey as she used a wheelchair after a misdiagnosis accident in 2021. Doctors provided misleading medications and reports for her Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome over two years.
The 21-year-old had symptoms throughout childhood, including growing pains in her body, which would make her unable to move her legs, back, and other joints. Daniels contacted a general physician in her teen years, and they tried to treat her issues.
Daniels explained that she would frequently suffer from unexplained injuries over her body, which would take an unexpected time to heal. Moreover, she started struggling with joint pain and fatigue in 2020.
After struggling with her condition for years, Daniels was initially diagnosed with Raynaud’s Phenomenon, but the doctors couldn’t explain her frequent joint pains. The medical team assumed that she had an evolving lupus and administered the necessary medicines.
Further, she struggled while walking and standing up and started missing her high school classes. Due to the difficulty, Daniels dropped her classes at the sixth form to three in-person days a week.
Her family suggested to the specialist that she might have a severe condition, but they dismissed the issue. They continued to use the same medications that didn’t improve Daniels’ health and mobility.
Before she was diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), which affects the connective tissues and internal organs, Daniels had been an 80% wheelchair user.
Despite the accident by the medical professionals, Emma Daniels continued to have a positive outlook towards life.
Emma Daniels started her physiotherapy classes with Able2B and began walking temporarily!
After her accident, Daniels’ childhood friend suggested classes in the U.K. with Able2B, which worked to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.
Her misunderstood condition continued to worsen as fewer than 5,000 people suffered from EDS in the States.
Moreover, her regular visits to the organization and the helpful guidance of her coach have helped her stand independently and take a few steps while wearing ankle foot orthoses. Daniels revealed that she had given up her dream of becoming a gymnast due to EDS.
During a talk with Newsweek, Daniels added, “I suffer from frequent dislocations of my knees, hips, and shoulders. Some of these have left me momentarily unable to move or feel my legs below my waist until I get the joint back into place.“
Regardless, she wants to improve her situation, so her physiotherapist suggested artificially creating joint connectors. The devices helped her gain stability and balance compared to medications and helped her walk naturally.
As part of her recovery journey, Daniels began uploading her sessions on Instagram, which soon gained overwhelming responses from viewers. Many filled her comment section with encouraging words and stories of similar mistreatments.
Daniels gradually began feeling comfortable moving without her wheelchair and has inspired people with disability to have a sense of hope from her daily clips.
She stated in one of her posts, “My goal is to remind them that life isn’t over just because they are in a wheelchair.“
Additionally, she planned to raise funds for EDS patients through her growing platform and mentioned that she might initiate a fundraiser event in collaboration with her family and the Able2B organization.
Additional Information
- Emma Daniels walked without assistance for two years while wearing her carbon fiber Air Force One. Despite difficulty controlling her pace and walking around sloppy surfaces, Daniels hit the 100-meter mark.
- The creator had symptoms since she was 11, and doctors described her pain as “growing pains,” which were later revealed to be partial dislocations of joint muscles and bones.
