His Scars Won't Kill His Bodybuilding Dreams

A bodybuilder enjoys flexing his ripped muscles on stage despite suffering from a condition that leaves his chest and back covered in large lumps of scar tissue.

At the age of 17, Isaiah Griffin, now 23, from Wichita, Kansas, noticed his first keloid on his leg, a benign growth caused when the body over heals itself. His acne turned to keloids, and treatments helped to stop progressing.

He witnessed changes in the way he sleeps, sometimes he cannot hug because of the bursts on his chests, he was in extreme pain and he cried to the point where he knows he needed a life-changer.

The condition gave Isaiah extremely low self-esteem, to the point where he couldn’t bear to look at his own reflection in the mirror, but bodybuilding helped him regain his confidence.

He started bodybuilding because he was skinny and wanted to lift, so his father dragged him to the gym, and taught him discipline, which later on inspired him to achieve more.

Isaiah's biggest strength is his hunger for hard work. He had doubts whether to start lifting, but he is big daddy's boy, and his father pushed him and encouraged his way through.

It was encouraging for him to do something without thinking what people might say, and that didn't stop him from achieving, he strives to succeed. He helps people, talks openly by his battle with keloids and turned out better looking than his father.

He won third place in his very first competition and, while his biggest web-like keloid on his chest often prevents him training since it can lead to bleeding and bursting, nevertheless Isaiah has his sights set on becoming a bodybuilding champion.

Videographer / director: Adam Gray
Producer: Nora Hakramaj, Ed Baranski
Editor: Grant Hanson-Vaux