A FORMER athlete has overcome a debilitating condition to open her own chiropractic clinic.

Antonia Kam was forced to give up competitive running at 17 after being diagnosed with genetic joint mobility syndrome Ehlers-Danlos (EDS).

It affects connective tissues in skin, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, internal organs and bones, and meant the 23-year-old from Boars Hill had to give up her activities with Radley Athletics Club.

After seeing a chiropractor during sixth form at Our Lady’s Abingdon, she decided to enrol on a chiropractic course at BPP University School of Health.

Now Miss Kam has graduated with a first-class degree and has set up her own practice, Chiroptima Chiropractic Clinic, in Boars Hill.

She said: “Graduating was a huge personal achievement and I’m enjoying watching my practice grow and seeing the positive effects it has on my patients.

“I’m still learning how to do a lot of things, like advertising and designing a website, but it’s really exciting.”

Miss Kam said the day she was diagnosed with her incurable condition in 2011 was “frustrating and devastating”.

She said: “I was very depressed and the future seemed really uncertain.

“But I spoke to friends and family and everyone was really encouraging, particularly the university.”

With help from university staff, she also managed to plan rest days into her diary during the demanding final year of her course – predominantly based on clinical work.

Miss Kam formally graduated in April this year and started her new business straight away.

She added public figures with EDS coming forward to talk about their conditions, such as Coronation Street actress Cherrylee Houston and Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood, had also been a boost to her confidence.

Miss Blackwood revealed her battle with EDS in an interview with the Oxford Mail in March.

Miss Kam added: “It is great they are trying to raise awareness, because more research needs to be done into EDS.

“Reading Nicola’s story about how she coped with her condition and still became so successful was really inspirational.”

The graduate has also made her own contribution to research, after her dissertation on the autonomic nervous system was presented at the Chiropractic Osteopathy and Physiotherapy Conference in November.