At the age of 5 I started with runway modelling and I absolutely loved it, it quickly became one of my passions in life.
I was blessed to be able to walk the runways for 4 years, and then at 8 years old I broke my back and was left paralysed and was told that I would never be able to walk again.
Today I have been in a wheelchair for 14 years and my passion for modelling and the runways has always stayed in my heart. I used to daydream of a world where I could be back on the runway.
I faced so many battles throughout these 14 years and the biggest ones were where I had to find my self-worth and my self-confidence again and where I had to see and believe in my beauty regardless of my wheelchair or the fact that I don’t have sexy legs and a flat stomach anymore.
The one and only thing that drove me towards my decision to start my modelling career again was the fact that society has this perception that women/men in wheelchairs can’t be beautiful, can’t be in magazines, can’t be in bridal expos, can’t be in fashion shows or be featured in advertisements.
It angers me to see this, so I decided to do my part and help change these perceptions.
I am back and I am stronger and more determined than ever before. I am here to break into the industry and break down every stereotype that is set upon us.
I am not just another pretty face, I am here to change the minds of the fashion critics, the magazine editors, the designers and the agencies from all over the world and show them the beauty in diversity and change the perception of a “typical model”.
I am a model
I am a woman
I am abled
I am Mariska Venter
