What if the only
thing getting in the way of you, was quite frankly, a piece of you? Dig
deep into how far you would go in making sure that nothing gets in
the way. In your way of moving closer to how you envision your life.
While most of us were pondering the inevitable announcement of the
demise of Destinys Child, at the tender age of 16, Jack
Eyers was making a life altering decision. Although he was quite aware
of the extremity of the situation, the decision to have his right
leg amputated was something he was ready to take on. Feeling exhilarated
and more driven than ever, hes been traveling, modeling and
motivating individuals as a fitness trainer. ABILITY caught
up with Jack between sets.
Lia Martirosyan: How did you get into modeling?
Jack Eyers: I met Angel Sinclair about a year ago now. She invited
me along to a trial photo shoot. I didnt know what to make of
it. She tried me in all sorts of different poses and not having any
friends in the industry, I didnt really know what was going
on. I didnt know what to make of the situation. But the images
she showed me at the end, I was quite surprised by. Ive always
been into art, design, things like that and I really liked those images
and the fact that I was in them (laughs). And it showed my
leg off.
Martirosyan: What were you doing before that?
Eyers: Personal training, fitness. Which I still do.
Martirosyan: Can you tell me a little bit about what happened?
Eyers: With my leg? Sure. I was born with a conditionit basically
didnt grow properly. Its called PFFB (proximal femoral
focal deficiency). Its a deficiency in the femur, the big bone
at the top. Theres a whole number of reasons why, but they havent
really found the right one. So it didnt grow properly. I walked
around with a straight leg, didnt have a knee joint. And then
when I was 16, I was like, Just get rid of it. Cut it off. Had
enough of it. It held me back everywhere. It was completely
my choice. That was several years ago. From then on its been
all uphill, just good. I definitely felt like it held me back, so
as soon as it was gone, I felt freer, lighter.
Martirosyan: Thats a major operation, great it worked out.
So you have your own gym? What do you do with the majority of your
time?
Eyers: Working in the gym. Unfortunately, its not my gym, not
yet, anyway. I pay rent and I see clients. Ive been slowly building
a client base for a couple of years now, living in Bournemouth in
the southwest of the UK. The South coast, along the edge.
Martirosyan: Oh, yeah, Im very familiar with it.
Eyers: (laughs) Its very nice. Its good. Lots of
fitness, lots of clients.
Martirosyan: With modeling, are you trying to take it somewhere, or
somewhat of a hobby?
Eyers: I want to take it somewhere.
Martirosyan: Where do you want to take it?
Eyers: Haha! Ive always opted for the fitness side of things.
Im very, very inspired by it. Id love to do fitness modeling
full-time. Id love be in some sort of clothing brand or fitness
brand. Ive just been sponsored by NRGFuel supplement company,
which is amazing. Id like to be their face, their big person.
But thats a little bit down the line yet. Recently, Angels
been pushing me into the fashion industry. We did a photo shoot with
Boohoo.com, which is an online clothing line and I really liked it.
Its completely different, but I really enjoyed it. Im
quite open to trying anything.
Martirosyan: Great approach. Are you looking to get with an agency
or is it all just independent, doing your own thing?
Eyers: At the minute, its just my own thing, but if agency is
the next step, then yeah, absolutely. Im still quite new to
it, so Im just experiencing it, Im just kind of taking
it as it comes.
Martirosyan: Do you get any curious comments when youre modeling?
Eyers: Do you mean in terms of the leg, or just in terms of modeling?
Martirosyan: In terms of modeling and the leg.
Eyers: When I first put some pictures online, with my top off and
I was in quite a posed position. A lot of people commented and said
they didnt like it, too much, too this, too that. Your
body doesnt look very good. And the flip side of that,
other people were saying how perfect my body looked. Bear in mind,
they cant see my leg, they can only see my upper body. Then,
I posted another picture and it was my full body and the comments
completely changed. People started saying, Wow, youre
so inspirational, youve done this, youve done that.
They didnt look at the muscle, they looked at the body. They
looked at achievement. So its very, very interesting.
Martirosyan: Thats great. What about other activities, have
you ever done any kind of sports?
Eyers: Yeah, I tried wheelchair basketball. I did that for about four
years. I was on the GB team for the juniors, but it didnt work
out. I moved away, for whatever
reason I just lost interest, not in the sport, but it didnt
work out. So I tried rowing, I tried different athletics. I tried
them all. (laughs)
Martirosyan: What about the Paralympics? ....
continued
in ABILITY Magazine
You can read
the complete article and the full magazine, including all of the photos
in our Digi issue, by clicking "Like"
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Facebook page.
Excerpts
from the Loni
Anderson Issue
Dec/Jan 2013-14:
Jack Eyers Modeling his Way!
Chinas Ye Tingfang
Magical Meeting
Drs. Scott and Wiener
Excerpt Human Rights
Loni
Anderson Caring for You
Twins Sisters and Lupus
New Research Disability and the Workplace
Senator Harkin The ADA Generation
Articles
in the Loni Anderson Issue; Senator HarkinThe ADA Generation;
Ashley Fiolek No More Red Eyes; Humor Holiday Cheer;
Paula Pearlman Lets Go Further to Protect People; Geri
Jewell Congress Needs a Reboot; Long Haul Paul Stella!
; Twins Sisters and Lupus; Excerpt Human Rights; Jack
Eyers Modeling his Way!; Chinas Ye Tingfang; Loni
Anderson Caring for You; Rebecca Tripp A Natural Tree
Hugger; Magical Meeting Drs. Scott and Wiener; ABILITY's Crossword
Puzzle; Events and Conferences...
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