When life throws you a huge curveball, you’ve got to learn how to do things your own way. That’s exactly what Shanice Rayner did when she lost the ability to use her left hand.

Since she was six, Rayner has had scoliosis, syringomyelia and chiara malformation. But she recently lost the use of her left hand in February.

Since then, the 22-year-old mom from Essex spent five months teaching herself how to do her daughter’s hair.

Rayner said she started styling her 3-year-old daughter’s hair in buns with the help of her right hand and her mouth.

In elementary school, my grandma did my hair every morning before school. She would put it in braids or pigtails, and stick ribbons and clips in it. I loved it. I didn’t know how to do my hair until I got older, but I’m grateful to have had someone who would put my stringy hair back so that it didn’t get even more tangly than it already was.

Rayner’s daughter, Ayshea Mai, may not realize how lucky she is now, but will probably understand the significance of her mother’s hair styling hack once she’s older.