Not only is Mat a second-degree black belt (you wouldn't wanna mess would you?), he can also put his elbows in his ears. And that's not all...
Name:
Mat Fraser
Disability:
Short arms/phocomelia, as a result of my mother taking Thalidomide when she was pregnant with me.
Since:
Birth as genetic condition.
You truly felt like a disabled person when...
I was treated as less than, other than, different to, other people.
The most embarrassing thing to happen because of your disability/impairment is:
Other people's embarrassment, but usually I find it funny.
Common misapprehensions about your disability/impairment (i):
It hurts, it means I can't wash or dress myself.
Common misapprehensions about your disability/impairment (ii):
That I'm rich because of compensation.
What's the worst thing anyone's ever done to you as a result of your disability/impairment?
Not given me an acting job I was right for, but they couldn't get past my disability.
What's the best?
Getting lots of sex
Extraordinary fact:
I can put my elbows in my ears, can dress myself with my feet if I don't feel like using my hands.
Superhero skill:
Kicking very hard, and other self-defence techniques.
What's the most common thing people assume you can do because of your disability that you can't?
Make a matchstick schooner with my toes
What's the most common thing people assume you can't do because of your disability that you can?
W**k
What has your disability given you?
Freedom from mediocrity, from being average, an invisible empathy with other marginalised people, an affinity with low life and society's rejects/outsiders.
Most annoying things you miss (or have never had):
Invisibility.
The things you can't live without:
Fresh vegetables/tofu, physical exercise, sex, coffee.
The person you'd most like to be marooned on a desert island with is:
Julie Atlas Muz
The three things you'd take to a desert island (nothing useful allowed) are:
An Ipod with a solar charger.
The first thing you'd do when you arrived on a desert island is:
Take my clothes off
You fund your lifestyle...
By working my flippers off in all modes of entertainment.
The thing that most annoys you about other disabled people is:
Them using their impairment to gain sympathy.
The thing that annoys you most about non-disabled people is:
Non-disabled people only annoy me when they are rude or abusive.
You don't feel disabled when...
I feel lust, love, equality.
What makes you most angry?
The injustice of disabled peoples' unequal treatment. Animal experimentation. Cruelty to living beings.
What makes you most depressed?
My stupidity.
What was the happiest moment of your life?
Getting my second-degree black belt. I worked harder for that than any other thing in my life.
What was the saddest?
My father's funeral.
The thing you love most about your friends is...
Their continued acceptance of all my changes.
The thing you hate most about your friends is...
Their horrible long arms.
How would your life be different without your disability?
Ugh, that horror of horrors, I might have run the risk of being normal.
Visit Mat's official site: www.matfraser.co.uk
