I AM SHAUNA Rae’s Shauna Rae Lesick, 22, exploded after a group of women “started taking photos of her” at a bar because she looks eight years old.
Shauna Rae has faced difficulty in almost every aspect of her life since she was six months old after she underwent chemotherapy that stunted her growth.
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In an exclusive clip shared to People, Shauna celebrated her older sister Tara’s bachelorette party inside of a bar, but began to feel the pressure of onlookers pulling out their phones.
As Shauna is 3’10” because of a growth hormone deficiency, she can’t stand above the bar counter and outsiders begin to wonder why someone so “young” would be inside of a bar.
The outsiders don’t understand Shauna is actually a fully-grown woman based on her appearance.
As her sister Tara pressured Shauna to order from the bartender and to take a drink, Shauna began to notice a group of women pulling out their phones.
Shauna felt uncomfortable drinking the flashy fishbowl cocktail, but Tara continued to try and persuade her to join in on the bachelorette celebration fun.
Tara urged: “You have to drink out of it! Right now, come on.”
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Shauna replied: “I f**king can’t!”
SHAUNA’S CONFESSION
In her confessional, Shauna expressed her frustration with her older sister lacking sympathy for her situation.
She said: “How do you want me to take a drink out of an 86 oz bucket with long straws when I can’t even see over the bar?
“The fact that she’s not understanding that people are staring at me, she’s not understanding that I’m already in an uncomfortable situation and her trying to push me to do more, just sets me off.”
Shauna appreciated her friends were trying to include her in the festivities but was saddened by the fact her sister didn’t understand and notice that she was in an “extremely uncomfortable” situation.
Tara countered in her confessional that she thinks Shauna isn’t a fan of her being “practical and realistic” to her sister’s struggles.
“She hates it. I think she wants some sympathy and I don’t give it to her,” says Tara. “She gets frustrated because of that.”
FOREVER YOUNG
Shauna Rae developed a rare form of brain cancer when she was just six months old and underwent chemotherapy that stunted her growth.
Shauna now stands at three-foot 10, the average height of an eight-year-old girl.
On I am Shauna Rae, she reveals the difficulties associated with her youthful appearance including finding it hard to date and going to bars, as everyone thinks she is a child.
In the trailer for the show, Shauna introduces herself saying: “If you were to look at me, you would think I’m just a normal little girl, doing normal little girl things with my fun, crazy family.”
She added: “But the truth is I’m not a little girl. I’m a woman, a 22-year-old woman stuck in the body of an eight-year-old.”
The new show follows Shauna facing issues trying to do normal things that a 22-year-old woman does in everyday life.
We see Shauna get turned away from a bar when the bartender said “we don’t allow kids,” being asked how old she is when attempts to get a tattoo, and even being questioned about her age when she tries to sign up for a gym.
Shauna’s mother, Patricia “Patty” Schrankel also speaks on the show about the heartbreaking time when her daughter had brain cancer as a baby.
She said: “Shauna was six months old when we found out she had brain cancer.
“I feel, I guess almost guilty, that she will have to go through this for the rest of her life, so all I can do is protect her.”
Shauna explains exactly what happened after she went through chemotherapy, and how this affected her growth.
She said: “My pituitary gland was rendered almost dormant because of the chemotherapy. The doctor told me I was done growing. My bones were fused, and my height is 3 feet and 10 inches.”
‘I AM’ BROKE
Shauna Rae’s stepfather Mark Schrankel filed for bankruptcy twice, as the family totaled $386K in debt years before the TLC show premiered.
The Sun exclusively revealed Shauna’s stepfather, Mark Schrankel, filed for bankruptcy for the family twice and in total owed more than $386,000.
Mark filed for a chapter 7 bankruptcy back in 2012 and a chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2015.
2012 BANKRUPTCY
Court documents reveal that in April 2012, Mark owed $204,643.58 to creditors.
The debt included a personal loan in the amount of $13,176 used for vacation expenses, clothing, food and gifts.
They racked up over $79,000 in credit card bills including to Capital One, Chase, CitiBank, Lowes, Home Depot, Target and more creditors.
They owed $5,768 for their repossessed Toyota and $14,556 for their repossessed Ford, among other debts.
At the time, Mark’s job was listed as self-employed, though he had no income listed, and Patricia worked as a Lead Server at Nordstrom.
Their average monthly income was $1,187.58, while their average monthly expenses totaled $4,091.
Their four daughters ranged from ages 8 to 21 at the time.
The chapter 7 bankruptcy was discharged in July 2012.
2015 BANKRUPTCY
By the family’s second bankruptcy filing in 2015, Mark owed $181,608.85 to creditors.
The debt included their Pennsylvania home with a judgement of $181,608.85.
The court papers claim the home went into foreclosure.
At this time, Mark worked as a “laborer,” while his wife continued her job at Nordstrom.
The family’s average monthly income increased to $4,386.54 and their monthly expenses decreased to $3,096.67, however it was not enough to keep the family out of debt.
The chapter 13 bankruptcy case was closed in January 2016.
Now living in Long Island, New York and with the family’s daughters beginning to come of age and move out, there may be hope for the Schrankels.
The show has not yet made any indication that Shauna has a job, although TLC families on average make around $25,000 per episode to split among the members.
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