Disabled woman with extreme phobia of clowns tries exposure therapy by being chased in wheelchair

Kerry Greenfield, 41, from Cheshire, has had a 'paralysing phobia' of clowns since she watched the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's IT on TV while home alone aged 12

A disabled woman from Cheshire has taken the bold step of confronting her intense fear of clowns a condition known as coulrophobia through 'exposure therapy'. Kerry Greenfield, from Widnes, has an extreme phobia that was triggered after she watched the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's IT at the age of 12, leaving her petrified of Tim Curry's portrayal of the child-eating clown.

Living with the constant dread of being chased by a clown is exacerbated for Kerry due to her reliance on a wheelchair, which means she cannot run away. In an attempt to overcome her fear, Kerry bravely dressed up as Pennywise, complete with a grey ruffled costume and red pompoms, and allowed herself to be chased by her nephews, who were also in clown attire.

For the full effect, Kerry wore a red wig and meticulously applied traditional clown makeup, including a sparkly red nose. Despite her courageous effort, she admits that she hasn't completely conquered her fear, citing Pennywise, Ronald McDonald, and CBBC's Mr Tumble as the trio of clowns that still unsettle her, reports Hull Live.

Reflecting on her aversion to clowns, Kerry shared: "I hate clowns. There was a film called Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I have a memory of being in primary school aged 10 and kids were talking about it, getting all carried away and dramatic."

The 41 year old expressed her longstanding fear of clowns, detailing a particularly haunting experience from her childhood: "I got extremely afraid and after that I was highly suspicious of clowns. Then at 12 I stupidly decided to watch IT on my own and I was paralysed with fear."

Describing the infamous character Pennywise, she admitted, "Pennywise is very strange and creepy. It creeped me out that he was in the sewer with his weird face paint on and he was eating children. I was like 'no, I'm not into that'."

She also recounted the extent of her terror: "I couldn't even close the curtains to the living room because I thought 'what if he comes in and I need one of the neighbours? ' It was a bad decision on my part, I didn't sleep very well."

Although she attempted to confront her phobia, Kerry revealed, "I tried to address it last year and thought I should watch it on Netflix to see if I could move on from it, but I couldn't quite bring myself to get past the trailer. I think I watched until his tongue fell out."

Living with spinal defects including spina bifida, which left her wheelchair-bound from the age of 25, Kerry acknowledged this added to her clown phobia. Her approach to overcoming this fear included immersion therapy through her business, as she explained: "Every few years on the news at Halloween you get these stories about clowns chasing people around. Imagine if you're just going along and some weirdo in a clown suit jumped out on you? It freaks me out."

Kerry, who uses a wheelchair, shared her personal struggle with a clown phobia, saying: "It makes my heart race, it plays on my mind and i think 'imagine that happening? ' I've had nightmares of clowns chasing me. I think some of it (my clown phobia) is because I use a wheelchair and I think I couldn't even run away."

In an effort to promote her American-style clown wreathes, Kerry bravely faced her fears by dressing up in a clown costume and makeup for a promotional video. The footage features Kerry in an IT-inspired outfit, complete with a red wig and make-up, holding a 'time to float' sign.

Discussing the experience, Kerry revealed: "That's me in the video dressed up as a clown. Because I make American-style wreathes - that world is big, crazy and over the top, sometimes it's just fun, particularly at Halloween, to match the wreath."

She further explained her creative process and how she confronted her fear: "I like being creative and I like having fun with the reels. The wreath came out really well so I thought to myself 'come on Kerry you're going to have to face up to it'."

Kerry detailed her transformation into the iconic horror character: "I got myself a Pennywise suit, which was quite funny, I bought it so I matched the clown. I did the make-up, did a Google tutorial, looked at myself and thought I was very creepy."

She concluded by describing the outcome of her daring act: "I had to imagine that Pennywise had turned me into some kind of zombie creation and we did it from there. I quickly took the outfit off afterwards, it's not quite cured me of my fear yet but it was fun."

Despite making marginal progress in tackling her fear of clowns, Kerry remains far from comfortable around them. She confessed: "The worst clown is Pennywise, he's the one I hate the most. I can't forgive him for eating the children. I hate Mr Tumble, he freaks me out. When my nephews were into him I would go out of the room when he came on the telly, I have a strong dislike for him."

She also admitted feeling remorse, yet unable to handle her discomfort: "I feel guilty as he's a really nice person but I can't cope. Ronald McDonald, he's another one. I did like going to Maccies when I was younger but I was a bit dubious about him."

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