Inspirational Lives

INSPIRATIONAL Shardai Cousino was born with Epidermolysis Bullosa – an incredibly rare condition that causes her ‘butterfly' skin to blister and tear with the slightest touch

THE world of beauty pageants has helped two disabled sisters find their confidence and, for one of them, her first words

A TENACIOUS model has learnt to show-off her scars after a tragic car accident left her fearing for her future

A DEFIANT teenager born with a rare facial tumour that leaves her unable to speak or eat dreams of becoming a nurse

AN INSPIRING young woman has taken it upon herself to become an advocate for the condition

A BLOGGER who suffered with body dysmorphia as a size 10 is now a size 16 and pursuing a career as a plus-size model

A YOUNG mum left severely burned during a kerosene explosion says she has learnt to see her scars as beautiful

STANDING at 3ft 4 inches tall, Dru Presta is showing the world that sexy has no height restrictions

A BRITISH hairdresser is raising awareness of the plight of people sleeping rough - by giving free haircuts to the homeless

A 31-year-old woman has turned her back on expensive rents and property prices - by living full time in a van

A BRAVE teenager who lost his leg in a bus accident seeks to launch a career as a BMX rider without the use of a prosthetic

A FIERCELY confident pole instructor is showing the world that there is no size requirement for sex appeal

MEET Rebekah Bruesehoff - the 10-year-old transgender girl ‘the media warned you about'

A YOUNG woman is helping acid attack survivors in India by providing them with education, job prospects and medical and legal advice

GROWING up as teenager is never easy, especially for Vinicios Sardi who was born without his lower legs

A YOUNG MUM is battling to reclaim her life after experiencing horrific burns as the result of a terrifying campfire accident

A HOARDER who hadn’t seen her floor in four years has called in Britain’s most extreme cleaners

A 26-YEAR-OLD woman with a rare condition that makes her look decades older is challenging beauty standards by becoming a model

A MECHANIC is offering a 20 percent discount to customers that agree to see the doctor about their prostate

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy remains upbeat despite battling an extremely rare condition that has made the right side of his face heavily swollen

A CURVY yoga enthusiast is proudly breaking down body image stereotypes in India

AN amputee who lost his legs in a train accident has ditched the wheelchair to become a PROFESSIONAL SKATEBOARDER

A DISABLED TEEN has regained his lust for life by creating artwork with his mouth

A 106-YEAR-OLD cook has become a YouTube sensation after her great grandson posts videos of her traditional dishes

THE Jain monks of Udaipur walk barefoot for 18 miles per day as they practice one of the most ancient religions in the world

LINDSAY Hilton is a badass CrossFit extraordinaire and a full contact rugby player - she also happens to have been born without limbs

FRAGILE Zoe Lush has a rare condition which means her bones are so delicate they ‘break in the wind’

IN MATCHING blue jeans, white smocks and suede boots, five year-old identical twins Abigail and Isobel are not only impossible to tell apart - they’re also one in a million twins

A YOUNG woman is challenging gender stereotypes in India by riding the streets of New Delhi on a motorbike

IMAGINE being a mother to over 1400 children, having 282 sons-in-law, 49 daughters-in-law and hundreds of grandchildren

AN Indian man has adopted 22 children, 16 of whom were abandoned by their parents after being diagnosed with HIV

A SELF-TAUGHT photographer has travelled around Nepal for three years capturing the lives of Tibetan refugees

A WOMAN suffering with an extremely rare condition causes her to constantly smell like FISH

A LIFE coach is using the challenges she has faced due to her dwarfism to empower others

YOUNG inner-city boys are being pulled away from the lure of crime and drugs by learning how to act and dress like dapper gentlemen

FROM the woman on a quest to weigh over 1000lbs, to the man living his life as a ‘virtuous’ paedophile, BTV has featured some of the most incredible and controversial stories of 2016

AN inspiring man who lost his arms in a tragic accident uses his nose and feet to play tennis, swim and even drive

INSPIRING young woman born with a facial tumour making it hard to speak is beating the bullies on YouTube - by singing

WHEN expectant mother Caitlin Veitz attended a routine 20 week ultrasound, she and her husband Brian were expecting to find out if their baby was a boy or a girl

A YOUNG mum with a large tumour growing from her eye is hoping for a normal life, as doctors try to find a way of removing it without risking her life

DEXTER Mayfield is refusing to let his rotund size dictate his life - and is instead fulfilling his dream of becoming a dancer

A BRAVE six-year-old boy whose head grew to double its normal size keeps on smiling despite undergoing numerous operations

From pastry chef to heroin addict and now trainee barista, Ecevit Tihsinhatga is rebuilding his life through his job at the Second Shot Coffee shop

WHAT do you get when you cross 900 plastic bottles, a lot of garden wire and a piece of wood? A raft made out of discarded rubbish

RED and flaky with patches of dry silvery scales, sufferers of psoriasis could be forgiven for hiding from the public’s judging eyes

AN 85-year-old grandmother is hoping to prove she still has a spring in her step, as she trains to compete in her latest athletics competition

INFORMED she was HIV positive aged 11, Paida Mutopo believed she would never be able to have children for fear of passing on the condition

A GIANT teenager has reached a record-breaking height of 7ft 8ins - and is still growing

MEET the couple who are defying 60 years of hatred between North and South Korea to find love on the other side

PARENTS have shunned traditional school education for their children and instead have opted for a life-time trip around the world

A plus-side model has become an unlikely internet sensation - by reclaiming the word ‘fat' and proudly wearing exactly what she wants

THIRTEEN contestants battled it out this weekend for the title of Miss Transgender UK 2016 - and the opportunity for life-changing surgery

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy is totally unaware of the rare condition he has that makes him look like an elderly man

PRETTY Alana McLaughlin looks like any other young woman – but less than five years ago she was a macho-male soldier in the US SPECIAL FORCES

BORN without arms and legs, Tiyo Satrio, from Penawangan village, West Java, Indonesia, could be forgiven for having little to smile about

LITTLE Sophi Green loves to dance – despite being born with no arms

IDENTICAL twins who were born looking very different are finally looking similar thanks to groundbreaking surgery

A WOMAN with excess facial hair has ditched her razors and grown a full beard – and claims she’s never felt sexier

FIVE-YEAR-OLD Evan Fasciano’s condition causes his skin to grow at ten times the normal rate, leaving him at risk of life-threatening infection

A FORTY stone man has vowed to beat the bulge by powering through countless 5km runs – and plans to conquer a marathon

A SINGLE mother has no regrets about keeping her daughter despite passing on a rare debilitating illness

A MOTHER-OF-FOUR who overcame cancer is now hunting America’s most dangerous criminals - to pay off an $800,000 medical debt

A MOTHER has to have balloons placed under her skin because of a rare condition that could kill her at any time

A CHARITY in the UK has organised the world's largest ever gathering of primordial dwarfs

WHEELCHAIR bodybuilders have spoken of their joy at finally competing on the stage made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger

THIS over-the-top family contains some of the world’s greatest arm-wrestlers

MARTIAL arts master Jack Hearn is the oldest Judo Sensei in the UK - and at 92-years-old, he has no plans of bowing out

BORN with no arms, artist Swapna Augustine can nevertheless paint stunning portraits - using her FEET to hold her brush

FEARLESS Ellie Farmer proves age is nothing but a number as she scales walls as high as 30ft - despite being only TWO years old

A YOUNG boy with a ultra-rare genetic condition that makes him look like an old man has defied doctors to celebrate his fifteenth birthday

A DISABLED mother of two believes her dead son was watching over her as she won a prestigious bodybuilding competition

A LEGLESS CrossFit trainer is teaching other disabled people how to push their bodies to the limit

A HOUSEBOUND woman feels like she is burning alive from the inside due to a rare genetic condition

A PRIMORDIAL dwarf just 39ins tall doesn't her let condition stop her from singing and dancing, an armless pilot defies all odds by flying a plane using her feet, and a legless skateboarder had her sights on paralympic glory - these are just some of the amazing people who feature on Barcroft TV's 2015 round-up of inspirational stories

A COWARDLY lion climbing a tree to escape a herd of buffalo, a Brazilian bodybuilder who injected himself with oil to look like the Incredible Hulk and a man abseiling into a lava lake are just some of the incredible images that feature in Barcroft Media's 2015 end of year round-up

These smitten teenagers look like any other couple in the first throws of young love – but their relationship is one in a million

A WOMAN who deliberately put on weight for years lost 240lbs after splitting from her feeder boyfriend - ultimately saving her life

A FITNESS fanatic has lost almost half her bodyweight and is now getting to work on her 1,500 pound family

A HULKING bodybuilder almost died from bulimia - before discovering the joy of lifting weights which saved her life

A SEVERELY anorexic woman’s life was saved when six strangers staged an intervention at her gym

AT TWELVE years old tiny Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley stands at just 39.5 inches tall and weighs the same as a two year old

A BRAVE child with a disfigured face refused surgery because it could have cost him his smile

A PROLIFIC Internet troll lost more than 400 pounds after abusing body builders who then helped him lose weight

A GROUP of acid attack survivors are baring their scarred faces to empower other abused women

WITH her hourglass figure and iconic sultry gaze curvy Thalia Almodovar is the double of Kim Kardashian

SPORTY sisters Maria and Valery Bystritskii may look innocent - but they're actually boy-beating CAGE FIGHTERS

FORMER model Lisa Brown suffers from an extremely rare condition that is causing her to starve to death

A 96-YEAR-OLD sprinter has rolled back the years by setting a new British record in the 100 and 200 metres

FOR INSPIRATIONAL Zuly Sanguino life with no limbs has proved no barrier to success

AN INDIAN student has realised her dreams of becoming a New York fashionista - despite suffering a horrific acid attack