Chorley woman battles scoliosis to become stronger than ever

Nicole Clowes, 32, is a member at the personal training gym May Wellbeing in Clayton-le-Woods but it was at the age of 16 that she opted for spinal fusion surgery to treat her scoliosis.

Later, at May Wellbeing, she built her strength and happiness to a place she was comfortable with, and met her fiancé in the process.

Spinal-fusion surgery was, at the time, undertaken by a small number of surgeons in the UK and was considered a high-risk procedure. Nicole had the operation at Alder Hey Hospital when she was 16.

Nicole bouldering (Image: Nicole Clowes)

Nicole, from Chorley, said: “It is hereditary. So, a lot of the time, when you hit 12 or 13, your spine will grow vertically, or it can rotate and bend into a C or S shape. My spine went into an S shape.

“I was really into PE, sports, athletics. I loved doing high jump, even competitively with school. And then one day you realise you can’t do it anymore as my spine and subsequently the rest of my body, had gone too far over.

“It affected everything. Even just sitting trying to prep for exams was uncomfortable and left me in pain because my spine wasn’t as it should be.

“So, at 15, I was fitted with a back brace, which was like a plastic cast. It was never going to fix the issue, but it was designed to stop it getting worse.

“At 15, I’d like to say that bullies aren’t a thing - but they are. So, it was well-hidden under a shirt but you can’t fully hide it and it was a big thing.”

Nicole initially recovered from her operation quickly although she had to essentially learn to walk again. She was home within a week but there was more work to do.

She added: “It took a long time to recover. I used to get to the top of the stairs and lie down on the landing due to pure exhaustion plus my blood pressure was all over the place.”

By her own admission, Nicole did not pay much attention to her body or health from that point. She studied equine management at Myerscough College and just wanted to be out with her friends.

But aged 24 she took an interest in the gym and focussed mainly on cardio.

She went on: “I was just thin with no muscle tone or strength. I saw people on socials competing in bikini fitness who I knew, and I knew I wanted to do that, which started my mission to start building muscle.”

When Nicole started lifting weights, it became apparent that her muscles were developed better on one side than the other. Training then became all about making the body symmetrical - or at least attempting to.

From the age of 24 until she joined May Wellbeing, Nicole’s life went through a period of change. In this time, she entered bikini fitness competitions, had a variety of different trainers and gyms, and moved to London. She eventually challenged herself to complete her mortgage exams and start her own business as a self-employed mortgage advisor.

She said: “I moved back north because there’s only so long you can do the rat race in London. I wanted to be back with my friends and family and be back in my own home.”

Nicole and Brad during the Yorkshire Three Peaks (Image: Nicole Clowes)

Nicole joined the small-group personal training gym May Wellbeing at aged 30 and felt that it was the right mixture of expertise and compassion to be a second home for her.

Within two years, she has worked with the coaches to transform her attitude toward nutrition and training. She even met her now fiancé Brad Shuttleworth, 35 who also trains at May Wellbeing.

Nicole said: “Gym classes were never for me - I’d tried them, and I didn’t like them. But I’d also lost a lot of motivation to go to the gym on my own.

“May Wellbeing is technically a class but everything’s a bit more tailored to you as an individual. I went to the first class and thought ‘this is exactly what I need, the perfect balance’.

“What the gym has really helped me with is my relationship with food. From competing, you become obsessed with calorie counting. I used to look at cake on a table and see it as a lump of fat and feel physically sick, and training was used as punishment rather than enjoyment.

“In the two years I’ve been at May Wellbeing, I’ve changed a lot for the better. The coaches are full of expertise and knowledge and the other members here are great.”

Sarah May Webster and Louis Mayers opened May Wellbeing in 2019 and are pleased to have helped Nicole make progress.

They said: “Nicole came to us with a history of exercise and fitness but not necessarily looking at her lifestyle in a sustainable way - and so she was struggling to make progress as she wanted to.

"We're delighted with the positive mindset changes she has been able to make and that she feels like a happier, healthier person than she did two years ago."