Kanya Sesser: Meet the legless model challenging industry preconceptions

The 23-year-old is also a keen extreme athlete and plans to compete in uno-ski at the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea

Ms Sesser, a keen surfer, on the beach (Kanya Sesser, via Instagram)

A legless Californian model has defied preconceptions by earning hundreds of dollars working as an underwear model.

Kanya Sesser, 23, from Los Angeles, was abandoned as a week-old baby outside a Buddhist temple in Thailand before she was brought to the US aged five by her adoptive parents.

Now she works as an underwear model – earning up to $1000 a day – and plans to compete in the uno-ski competition in the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

 

A photo posted by Kanya Sesser (@kanyasesser) on Sep 22, 2015 at 11:38pm PDT

 

A photo posted by Kanya Sesser (@kanyasesser) on Sep 18, 2015 at 6:25pm PDT

"I'm very honest, I'm real — I'm never going to behave different to anyone. This is just who I am.”

Modelling was never something she planned, Ms Sesser told the New York Daily News. “I enjoy expressing myself in a different way than people usually see.”

"I don't need legs to feel sexy,” she told the Daily Mail.

She started modelling aged 15, posing for a number of sports brands, including Billabong, before underwear brands later scouted her. “These images show my strength,” she says.

Ms Sesser is also an extreme sports fan, eschewing the use of a wheelchair and instead skateboarding. She also surfs, skis and plays basketball.

Her profile has gone viral with hundreds liking her Instagram posts, with her bio reading: “I’m weird and different” alongside her motto: “No Legs no Limits”.

She currently has more than 10,000 followers on the social media network.