Firstly - a moment for the strangely prophetic zebra photo!

Here I am, aged 5 in my first dancing concert. I was a proud back corner performer as I was too tall for the front row and pretty happy to be slightly obscured from view tbh. My parents said they could always pick me out because of my elbows, which I now know to be hypermobile!

Years later, I learned that the zebra was the symbol for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome because of the medical adage “if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras”. This basically means that doctors are taught find and treat the most obvious cause first, rather than the pursue possibility of rarity.

People with connective tissue disorders and a whole host of other invisible illnesses actually DO have the rare thing, but by this stage a whole bunch of money and time has been spent on tests and appointments. They know what it feels like for results to come back normal, yet still be feeling an unacceptable level of pain, dizziness and fatigue.

This is what Invisibly Brilliant was built for - to shine a light on the people and stories that don’t quite fit in the “find and fix” medical model, but so deeply deserve support and care.

There is no standard treatment approach here, no set program, no fixed commitments. We’re simply a team caring health professionals, here to share what we have learned with warmth, skill and presence.

So please, come in. There’s room for your whole story here.

Jennifer Smallridge
Director
Accredited Exercise Physiologist