About Me

Hi, I'm Natalie-Amber, I'm a trained dancer, presenter, model, public speaker and a Level 3 PT. I am proud to be an official ambassador for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Eakin Healthcare (Pelican).

I spent seven years of my life constantly in pain, I made repeated visits to my local hospital and doctors as I was always in pain, severely malnourished, underweight and I was sick after every meal I ate. I attended full time dance school and was hardly in class, due to the pain and fatigue, I was called lazy.

Doctors told me I was ‘anorexic’ or had IBS. This was far from the case and despite them putting me into a category and ignoring me, I continued to beg for tests as Crohn’s Disease was in my family, but they ignored it. I even developed a thick vertical line on my big toe (I now know this was because I was malnourished), but the doctors said it was probably down to my ballet pointe shoes - nobody was concerned I was losing weight, nobody joined the dots together.

In 2017 it finally came to a head when I was rushed to hospital after collapsing at home, I went temporarily blind, and developed sepsis alongside kidney failure. When I woke up in ICU I had no idea I had two live-saving emergency operations within two days. My surgeon (and still my consultant, is amazing), revived me on the operation table after telling my parents to prepare for the worst as they did not think I would survive the night, by then I was around six stone. I survived and was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, I had 35cm of my small intestine removed and had a temporary stoma bag for a year with a further major open surgery operation at the end of 2018 to reverse it. I have three scars, my stoma scar, drain scar and a full tummy vertical scar.

I now dedicate my life to help break stigmas in the model industry, women like me are underrepresented and you just don’t see it. I do not fit that typical ‘beauty standard’. I receive so many messages from women worldwide saying how I have helped them or their daughters who have similar scars to me and how they have now found their confidence with their bodies. I believe this is the reason I was saved on the operation table - to make a change.

I am a big advocate for representation of people with scars and invisible disabilities and educating large brands to be ‘totally inclusive’ rather than using ‘visible disabilities’ as a tick box on one time campaigns. This should be all the time. Crohn’s Disease is an invisible disability, just because I do not look disabled doesn’t mean I am not. My bowel doesn’t work how it is meant too. All disabilities visible and hidden should be represented.

I qualified in as a Personal Trainer in 2023, I specialise in women with chronic illnesses, because I understand how it feels to live with one and the struggles that comes with. My clients are from the UK and America, they have Crohn’s or Colitis. I have been fortunate to host my own body acceptance workshops for companies for stoma patients, and I hold body acceptance shoots for anyone who lacks confidence, and just wants a feel good boost about themselves, I love seeing people grow in confidence and see them share their experiences or show their scar in public for the first time. I use my social media platform to break stigmas, which has helped women and men who have scars globally. I was given the opportunity to host my own six part mini-series on BBC Radio Wiltshire, where I researched and interviewed various people

to share their own personal stories about body positivity/acceptance.

We still have a long way to go in the industry for body acceptance, but I am determined to break stigmas and will keep pushing no matter how long it takes.