Surrey influencer 'gained more than 1.5 million followers making body positivity content after spinal surgeries'
An influencer from Surrey, who started out running Guildford Leisure Centre Complex’s social media pages, now has more than 1.5 million followers across her social media platforms. Grace Tutty, describes her younger self as a shy child, who shocked her classmates when she rocketed to TikTok fame after gaining 50,000 followers in a year.
The 22-year-old, who has had two major surgeries to treat life-threatening scoliosis and dealt with disordered eating, uses her platform to uplift others and share her story. Grace’s mum first spotted a change in her posture and took her to the doctor when she was in year 7.
Grace said: “Mum thought I was on my iPod Touch too much, I saw a specialist at Royal Surrey Hospital and had to wear a back brace for two years. It was used to force my spine to be straight and was made of hard plastic, it hurt and was so uncomfortable and I had to wear it to sleep, my hips are now numb from it.”
The scoliosis diagnosis came as a shock to Grace and her family. It is where the spine grows in an unusual shape, often an S or C curve instead of straight, and can be very painful and even crush organs in some circumstances.
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Feeling incredibly self-conscious, Grace said she only told a couple of friends: “I don’t think many of my teachers even knew.” With unlimited internet access and the pressures of becoming a teenager, Grace says she and her classmates would compare the sizes of their legs in the changing rooms at school.
“I was very aware of my body, and social media was much less regulated. Once my back was finally fixed, I had issues with body confidence and would try to be as small as possible,” Grace said.
However, overcoming the scoliosis wasn’t a quick fix for Grace, and the curve was aggressive at 68 degrees. The teen underwent two spinal surgeries at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, during the first procedure when Grace was in year nine, she lost a lot of blood during the six-hour-long ordeal.
Metal rods and screws are placed onto the top of the spine to correct the curve. “I was so embarrassed,” said Grace, “there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but I told everyone at school that I had a bad cold.”
By year 11, a second surgery was on the cards in year 11 during Grace’s mock exams at GCSE level. A second scan revealed that the lower half of her spine had developed a curve, which is rare.
Following the second spinal fusion, Grace was told she had to wear the back brace again to protect her body from being knocked about in school corridors. Grace also wasn’t able to sit in certain chairs, carry her own school bag or take part in PE.
Once healed, Grace still felt self-conscious of her scars, she said: “I had to have a prom dress that was high at the back, I didn’t want anyone to know but I think they realised, especially as I grew two inches after the surgery. But then during lockdown I realised it really didn’t matter.”
When lockdown was enforced in March 2020, Grace had more spare time and was less on edge being out of the school environment. Starting with random videos like a tour of her first car, Grace found her niche.
Posting Gossip Girl inspired outfits and fashion content, Grace’s follower count eventually exploded to 10,000 by September 2020, and 50,000 a year later. Despite finding incredible success, Grace almost gave up after her classmates discovered her videos.
“Some boys in my class found my videos and showed everyone,” Grace said, “I think they were so shocked as I had been so shy. We were all sat around a big table and I wanted to shrivel up.”
During the end of her A Levels, Grace had three jobs including placement at the Guildford Spectrum where she ran the social media pages, working at Sainsbury's and an after school club. To remain consistent, Grace would try to come up with four to five ideas for TikTok videos each day.
Grace had to be resilient to grow her page and brand and continued making videos during university, where she studied Business Management at Pearson College in London. Speaking on publicly opening up about her scoliosis, Grace said: “When I was in year seven, and researching scoliosis, I found videos of just the surgery. What I saw terrified me.”
This spurred Grace on to make videos for others in the same position, who may also be frightened and confused. “I also used calorie counting apps, so many people online say that’s the right thing to do,” Grace said.
“I found body positivity and discovered influencer Olivia Kirkby’s recovery from her disorder, and seeing people living a healthy life helped me,” Grace added, “my videos showing posed social media posts versus what I look like in reality, and what I eat in a day - it’s nice to see someone eating normally.”
Initially apprehensive about sharing ‘what I eat in a day videos’ Grace now receives so many messages from other young people, telling her it’s boosted their confidence to eat well and not restrict. “It was a weight lifted off my shoulders when I decided to not restrict,” Grace said.
Speaking on dreaming of being an influencer, Grace said: “You have to really work hard on it, studying business has helped me be smart about what I post. One post can go viral, but you need to remain consistent.”
Being business savvy is really important when working for yourself, so studying business really helped Grace when it came to dealing with taxes for example. Over the years, Grace has had to learn to be thick-skinned, and not react to hateful comments.
She said: “Sometimes I get negative comments and I used to reply to them, mostly older men who call me ‘fat’. Now I just don’t care because the positive always outweighs the negative.”
To find Grace's content, find her Instagram here
NHS advice for those with or suspect they have scoliosis:
a visibly curved spine
leaning to 1 side
uneven shoulders
1 shoulder or hip sticking out
the ribs sticking out on 1 side
clothes not fitting well
You may find it useful to contact a support group, such as Scoliosis Support and Research
Contact a GP if you notice any posture differences
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