Model, 28, with Limb Difference Carries Her Prosthetic Legs in Public After Years Feeling 'Ashamed' (Exclusive)

Lyric Mariah has two prosthetic legs — one named Bertha, for sneakers, and the other, Tina, for high heels — and they’re taking the Internet by storm.

Now a model in London, Mariah has amassed more than 330,000 followers on TikTok and 575,000 followers on Instagram, where she shares videos of herself swapping out her prosthetic legs in public — from the train to the café and beyond. The first video of the leg switch, which she posted in 2023, quickly went viral.

"It was set to a Barbie sound, and it was only seven seconds long," she tells PEOPLE. "My friends and I were shooting content that day, and I was just adjusting and fixing Tina. My friend happened to capture that moment."

"It was totally organic," she adds. "My friend was like, 'Oh, that looks so cute! You should post it.' " So she did. Instantly, people loved it, and Mariah says that’s when everything clicked.

The 28-year-old was born with amniotic band syndrome, a rare condition in which fibrous bands from the amniotic sac become tangled around parts of the developing fetus. As a result, she is missing the lower half of her right leg and has only three fully-formed fingers on her left hand, and none on her right.

As the only child in her town with a limb difference, Mariah quickly realized she was "different," she shares. Growing up, she faced the normal challenges most teenage girls encounter — plus a few extra. She recalls being extremely critical of her body and often wearing her insecurities on her sleeve.

"My entire upbringing was shaped by people putting me in a box and labeling me however they wanted," she explains. "They could peel the label off and slap a new one on at any given time. People expected me to dance to their tune, and I did for a very long time. I played the role everyone wanted me to play. I was quiet, I went along with what people said, and I became whoever they told me I was."

She adds, "But at some point, you get so unhappy that you can't keep pretending anymore."

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Mariah’s journey with prosthetics began when she was a baby. She laughs as she recalls how her mom loves to tell the story of when she first learned to walk — without her prosthetic leg. “I used to take it off and hide it everywhere so I didn’t have to wear it,” Mariah says. “Eventually, after a lot of hiding, my mom had to take me back to get a strap added so I couldn’t remove it.”

As she grew, Mariah got a new prosthetic leg every year and a half, until she turned 18. “That became a bit of an issue,” she explains. “When I turned 18, it was really hard to get a new one because of insurance complications.”

In 2015, Mariah went to college and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling, but by that time, her last prosthetic foot had completely worn out, and she was just walking on a metal plate. She realized that if she wanted to make it in the modeling industry — a space she quickly learned wasn’t built for her — she needed a new leg.

“I’d be on set, trying to blend in, but I was standing out in the worst way,” she says.

Along with the worn-out leg, Mariah also felt different only having prosthetics with flat arches, which limited her ability to wear certain types of footwear. For years, she wasn't allowed to wear high-heeled shoes, even to her prom. But that didn't stop her from trying.

"I’d walk at an angle, and my foot would just be going upwards. But I made it work!” she says. “I definitely gave my mom a run for her money.”

In 2019, Mariah was gifted two new legs, by the people who made her first prosthetic. One of the legs featured an arched foot, which opened her world of shoe possibilities, both on the stage and off.

While using this leg on set, she says her stylist — the only one who would take the time to help her with the shoes — was a huge support. “Other stylists would just say, ‘If this doesn’t fit, just throw on an easier shoe,’ ” she recalls. “But he was patient. He’d sit there with my leg off, just holding it in his lap, tying everything up until it was perfect.”

One day, he was trying to get a boot on Bertha, her prosthetic for sneakers, but it just wouldn’t cooperate. Out of nowhere, he said, “Come on, Bertha!” It was so funny that from that moment on, they started calling that prosthetic Bertha. Later, they decided to name the other one Tina.

Mariah laughs, adding, “I love it! Bertha's all about business — straight to the point. She gets the job done, no frills. She doesn’t need to be cute; she’s just there to get me from point A to point B.”

Looking back, Mariah says she spent so much time feeling ashamed of her prosthetics, like they were holding her back, ruining her confidence, and making life so much harder. But now, being where she is today — from walking in big runway shows to advocating for inclusivity in the fashion space — she's come to a place where she's accepted them as part of her story.

"As a grown woman, do I think about how people perceive me carrying my prosthetic leg? No. Growing up, I didn’t carry my leg with me, and I only had one prosthetic. But it was always there, and that didn’t stop people from looking, pointing, staring or having something to say."

"So, it doesn’t really make much of a difference now," she adds. "In fact, I think it actually leads to fewer questions. The more visible it is, the more people just accept it. I've had way more awkward experiences in places like airports or on the train — those situations feel a lot more uncomfortable than walking around and changing my prosthetic. Because when people see me switch legs, they usually think, 'Oh, okay, fair enough.' "

She adds, "The less you hide, the less people feel like you should be hiding."

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