Love Island’s Gabby Allen reveals the huge scar on her back following surgery for crippling scoliosis
LOVE Island favourite Gabby Allen has revealed that she had to undergo surgery at the age of 12 to deal with potentially crippling scoliosis.
The professional dancer - who is currently the bookies' favourite to win the show with Marcel - penned a heartfelt message ahead of entering the house and bared her back for an Instagram selfie to expose an 18-INCH scar running down her spine.
Explaining that she had suffered an injury shortly before entering the villa, she opened up about her diagnosis with the condition and added: "The top of my spine was curving so much it had caused the bottom to do so too, resulting in a big 'S' shape.
"Therefore, my shoulders, hips and ribs were all being pushed out of line... I would've ended up like Quasimodo!"
She went on to explain the gruelling procedure she had to undergo that required her to have her whole body reshaped as a result.
Describing the agonising procedure, she wrote: "They had to take out my ribs, deflate my lungs, insert two long stainless steel rods either side of my vertebrae and various nuts and bolts to keep them in place. I'm basically a robot!"
Unfortunately for her, the recovery was far from painless, and she revealed that on waking up she "felt like a plank of wood about to snap in half" as she began a new life with a straighter spine.
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Revealing that her ambition to remain a dancer encouraged her during the recovery, she added: "You have 5 vertebrae at the bottom of your spine and my surgeon decided to leave me with two un-fused so I still had some range of flexibility to dance."
She later added: "I had to learn how to walk. But being a dancer, I was determined."
"I went back to dancing within 6 weeks. And I won a ballet championship 6 months after!"
"I grew up being embarrassed of it," she admitted. "I'd walk side ways on down the beach 🦀 so people wouldn't see, I'd wear clothes or my hair down my back to cover it.
"I'd tell people I was bit by a shark and it was cosmetic surgery 🤣," she confessed.
But the proud star added: "But now!!! I have no shame! People are intrigued and find it fascinating that I do what I do with such an impairment.
"And I'm proud of myself that I've managed to come so far and do so much. I never let this get the better of me!
She finished the essay by explaining: "So! Moral! Be proud of your bodies. Accept them for what they are. Forgive them for what they're not. Understand them when they need a rest.
"Support them. Believe in them! Love them!!"
- Catch Love Island, weeknights at 10pm on ITV2.
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