Teenager with Tourette’s films herself laughing as she tries to stay still enough for a Covid-19 nasal swab test and shares the video to raise awareness about her condition
- Teenager Zara Beth, 15, from Dumfries and Galloway has Tourette’s syndrome
- Zara shares videos about living with the condition with her 1.5 million followers
- Her latest video features her struggle taking an invasive Covid-19 nasal swab
This 15-year-old filmed her Tourette’s syndrome tics as she attempted to take a COVID-19 test on February 22.
Zara Beth, 15, from Dumfries and Galloway, set up a camera to record her tics as her mother helped her to take a COVID-19 test.
‘I’m going to karate chop it out your hand,’ she says as she repeatedly makes the motion.
Zara Beth, 15, pictured, from Dumfries and Galloway suffers from Tourette’s syndrome, which made taking a Covid-19 nasal swab incredibly difficult
Answering a few questions from her TikTok viewers, Zara explains: ‘It’s actually easier to make friends because it’s an interesting conversation starter. I’ve made so many friends on TikTok it’s crazy.
‘Does it affect my school life? It definitely does because I’m sat in a classroom and I clearly cannot be quiet.’
She also adds she can’t go to the cinema, sit exams with other people and sit quietly through minute silences.
Zara posted the video to TikTok where it was almost reached 60 million views. She aims to raise awareness about Tourette’s syndrome.
Zara Beth, 15, from Dumfries and Galloway set up a camera to show her 1.5 million followers the difficulties she faces having a Covid-19 swab test due to her Tourette’s syndrome
The Scottish teenager has 1.5 million followers on TikTok. She uses her platform to show what it is like to live with Tourette’s.
In one video, she admits the condition can cause her legs to stop working properly leaving her crouching on the ground. She said ‘it can be a big issue in public sometimes’.
In the footage she starts hopping along the path. He said he uses laughter to cope with the symptoms of her conditions.
In another video, she discusses her continued use of swear words.
She said: ‘I get a lot of comments asking about coprolalia and offensive tics so I want to make a video about that.
The teenager, pictured, uses her platform to inform people about her condition
‘Coprolalia is where you have tics that are swearing or obscene words and sentences.
‘We can’t control it. It is just the same as any ticks. It is completely involuntary and we don’t choose what we say.
‘So we don’t mean any of it, it’s definitely not what we are thinking. And the same goes for offensive tics or comments on people’s religion or race… anything like that.
‘None of these are okay to repeat or kind of laugh at because these are obviously not okay to say. We just can’t help it.
‘So we have to normalise it for us because we can’t stop it.
‘I feel it is important to educate people on this kind of darker side of Tourette’s because it impacts me a lot.
‘The same reactions that people have in comments are the same as the ones that I get in real life.
‘If I say the wrong thing at the wrong time, it actually puts me in danger. I just want to raise awareness for those bits.’