I was born without collarbones — now I have a weird party trick
Now that’s a flex.
A woman who was born without collarbones is going viral after demonstrating how she can touch her shoulders together like a human Gumby. A video of the flexible gal’s physics-defying party trick currently boasts 1.4 million views on TikTok, with many viewers comparing her to “Stranger Things” actor Gaten Matarazzo, who has the same ailment.
“Being able to touch my shoulders together in front of my body is certainly my party trick,” Danielle Lewis, 33, told Caters News Agency of her body-bending ability. The Cannock, Staffordshire, native of the United Kingdom was born with cleidocranial dysplasia, a rare genetic condition that weakens and deforms teeth and bones, including the skull, face, spine, collarbones and legs.
Affecting one in every million births, CCD often causes people’s bones to form differently or be preternaturally brittle. Meanwhile, other bones, such as collarbones, may be absent entirely, as is the case with Lewis.
“My family knew as soon as I was born that I had cleidocranial dysplasia and as well as being born without collarbones,” the mother of three described. “There are only 17 families in the world that have this gene and we all meet up once a year.”
Fortunately, this so-called “deformity” proved to be a stealth superpower for Lewis: She realized when she was young that her nonexistent collarbones allow her to touch her shoulders together.
“I was laying on my side and my shoulders were touching,” said the accidental contortionist. “My friend pointed it out to me and couldn’t believe it.”
“I just thought everyone could do it,” added Lewis, who frequently showcases the invertebrate-esque feat of flexibility for her more than 40,900 TikTok followers.
In one clip, captioned “what’s your party trick?” the bendy brit can be seen incredibly clasping her arms together so her shoulder muscles meet in the middle of her body, lending her the appearance of a human Pez dispenser.
Needless to say, viewers were amazed by Lewis’ unique talent.
“That’s incredible!” said one awestruck commenter, while another wrote, “THE WAYYYY MY FRCKNNN JAW DROPPED.”
Others compared them to actor Matarazzo, 20, who also suffers from cleidocranial dysplasia and has been open about his struggles with the disorder.
Indeed, while imbuing Lewis with extreme flexibility, CCD has caused her plenty of problems as well.
“It’s also affected my height — I’m only 4ft 11 — as well as causing joint pain, a prominent forehead, and short limbs,” lamented the Brit.
Lewis said she suffers from dental issues as well, explaining, “It affects your teeth, so I had to have surgery when I was 11 to remove all of my baby teeth and wait for the other ones to come through. I’ve got crooked teeth now.”
The parent has also passed the gene onto her three kids — Ruby Angel, 13, Lily Grace, 12, and Max Thomas, 6 — a phenomenon that carries a 50/50 chance of occurring in people with CCD.
On the plus side, the kids share their mother’s Silly Putty-esque shoulder powers.
“People are so shocked when they see us doing our party trick,” she said. “It’s not every day you see someone touching their shoulders together, so I think it’s even more shocking when a few of us can do it together.”
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