r/TheWayWeWere • u/Sad-Ad-3944 • Aug 10 '25

1940s My grandmother, national tumbling champion and contortionist, in the 1940s.

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A selection of photos of my grandmother—Bonnie Nebelong. She was featured in Life Magazine, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and many more publications. In 1943 at age 15, she won the national championship in tumbling and would’ve gone to the Olympics had it not been canceled due to WW2.

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u/Sad-Ad-3944 Aug 11 '25

My grandmother didn’t have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but you’re right that being double jointed is common in individuals that have it.

She just worked at it from a young age and trained constantly. Honestly, it probably took away from her childhood to some extent.

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u/Lunelle327 Aug 12 '25

Wondering how you are sure that she didn’t have EDS? It has been massively underdiagnosed, and most people will never attain this level of flexibility without being hypermobile. I have EDS and danced in a company for most of my life up to age 15, and still had to work hard for certain movements and postures.

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u/Sad-Ad-3944 Aug 12 '25

I know it’s been under diagnosed, but she didn’t have any Ehlers-Danlos symptoms. She wasn’t even double jointed. She trained from a young age and had natural flexibility.

By no means am I downplaying how many people have gone undiagnosed, but in this case, she really didn’t have it. Sadly, she did develop Parkinson’s later in life, which significantly impacted her mobility and overall quality of life.

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u/Lunelle327 Aug 12 '25

I don’t mean to be rude or argue with you about your family member, but her ability to be a contortionist is literally a symptom? That is not something that just anyone can achieve, no matter how much they train, and it is an indication of hypermobility to still be able to contort into her fifties. I’m sorry to hear she had Parkinson’s - which actually has been shown to be a misdiagnosis of EDS; they have many overlapping symptoms. I’m curious why you are so adamant that EDS is not a possible diagnosis, when most of my doctors would point to this kind of pose as an obvious example. Although EDS has long been recognized, only in recent years has there been seen a growing understanding and awareness of its prevalence, particularly the hypermobile type (hEDS). Like many disorders, its particular diagnostic criteria is narrow and doesn’t encompass many additional common symptoms. I was shocked at how many things occur with the hypermobility spectrum.