An OnlyFans creator who suffered brain bleeds and was left with metal plates and screws throughout her body after a motorcycle crash says she refuses to let the accident end her boxing career.
Mercedes Valentine, 25, from Brighton, was undefeated in the ring before the crash nearly killed her and left her unsure whether her brain could ever cope with being hit again.
“I had two bleeds in my brain,” Mercedes told NudeNewz. “I’ve got metal everywhere in my pelvis, big screws and a plate in my eye socket. Physically I’m fine, but mentally you wake up and realise your brain isn’t the same anymore.”
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The crash came as Mercedes was building momentum both as a boxer and as a content creator.
She had won all three of her amateur fights and was training hard when everything stopped overnight.
“I couldn’t go on an airplane for a year and a half because I didn’t know how my brain would react,” she said. “It’s like learning to be a whole new person. You wake up with a new brain and it works differently.”
Determined to fight again, Mercedes spent months in recovery and poured money into consultations with surgeons and specialists to find out if she could safely return to the ring.
“I spent so much money on so many surgeons just to hear, okay, she can do this,” she said.
When she finally stepped back into the ring, the comeback did not go to plan.
“I got let down by my boxing team and I got thoroughly beaten up,” she said. “I had a massive black eye. That was my fourth fight and my only loss.”
Despite the setback, Mercedes says quitting is not an option.
“I want to get better again,” she said. “I want to win. I don’t want to lose. I want to get back in the ring and not get knocked out again.”
The crash was not her first physical battle.
Mercedes lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition that affects collagen and can weaken joints, ligaments and organs.
“Collagen is in everything, your skin, your tendons, your ligaments, your organs,” she said. “It’s like a lottery of what it will affect.”
As a teenager, her condition deteriorated so badly she missed a year of school and struggled to walk.
“All my joints just weren’t working,” she said. “My mum couldn’t even hug me because my shoulders popped out.”
From her GCSEs through to university, Mercedes underwent intense physiotherapy to rebuild her body.
“I had to get really fit and build muscle to support my joints,” she said. “It was either just top yourself or get really fit and overcome it.”
She chose to fight, transforming her body and mindset in the process.
“You can either spend your life being a cripple or you can get super fit and make the most out of it,” she said.
Academically, Mercedes comes from what she calls a very serious family, with relatives working in medicine and science.
She holds a masters degree in neuroscience and was working with children with severe autism for £12 an hour when she discovered pole dancing and more creative outlets.
During lockdown, she started OnlyFans as a side hustle.
“It just blew up,” she said. “I was making shed loads of money and I didn’t really have a choice.”
At first, she hid it from her dad.
“I had to hide the strip club and OnlyFans for a year,” she said.
Over time, she slowly explained what she did.
“I drip fed them information and they became educated about it,” she said. “They love it now. My mum loves looking at my pictures.”
Not everyone was supportive.
Mercedes says she lost all her university friends after overhearing one of them criticising her behind her back.
“She thought I couldn’t hear and spent the whole car ride saying I was fed from a silver spoon,” Mercedes said. “I just sat there thinking I’ve worked my ass off to survive.”
The final break came when anxiety stopped Mercedes travelling abroad with them.
“I said I couldn’t go and her only concern was, are you still going to pay,” she said. “That told me everything.”
Today, Mercedes owns her own home and lives a life many of her highly educated siblings struggle to afford.
“They’re all working nine to five and struggling to live,” she said. “None of them will own a house until they’re 40 or 50. And here I am sitting in mine.”
She has also returned to her love of motorsports, buying a Porsche and four motorbikes, while remaining cautious after her injuries.
Despite online judgement, Mercedes says she has learned not to internalise it.
“You get people saying you’ve slept with hundreds of people,” she said. “If only you knew what I’ve been through. I’m probably smarter than you and I’ve survived more than you.”
Her focus now is on travel, track days and one goal above all else.
“I want to box again because I was undefeated until this happened,” she said. “I don’t want to lose.”
After surviving illness, rebuilding her body and recovering from a brain injury, Mercedes believes resilience is the only choice.
“You can let it beat you or you can try and beat it,” she said. “Quitting has never been an option.”
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