Jillian Mercado signed to IMG Models

Jillian Mercado, 28, has some impressive notches on her modelling belt: she's starred in campaigns for Diesel and Nordstrom, is set to appear in an upcoming issue of Carine Roitfeld's CR magazine, and has just been signed to New York-based mega-agency, IMG Models.

But Mercado's path hasn't been as clear-cut as other models'. She has spastic muscular dystrophy, a hereditary disease that causes progressive weakness in, and loss of, her muscle mass - which means she uses a wheelchair.

Mercado took to Instagram to announce that she has been signed to modelling agency IMG, calling her new role "the opportunity of a lifetime."

And that's no overstatement: the modelling giant's roster of models includes Kate Moss, Gisele Bündchen, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Lara Stone, Karlie Kloss and Viktoria Modesta, who has a bionic limb.

Senior vice president of IMG Models, Ivan Bart, gushed on Instagram: "Excitement abounds @imgmodels We are proud to represent a true pioneer @jilly_peppa Her chair is her magic carpet seating her in the front row..Always!"

Bart certainly isn't the only fan Mercado has in the fashion industry. "She looks great in fashion, and just because she's in a wheelchair is not going to stop that," Diesel artistic director Nicola Formichetti told The Wall Street Journal.

So what's next for Mercado? Appearances at New York Fashion Week in September are likely, as are more campaigns. "Anything in life is possible if you only believe in it hard enough... I am very excited for the adventures to come," Mercado said in an Instagram post.

Watch Mercado demonstarte her modelling chops for Models.com in the video above, then discover the ballsy way she landed her Diesel campaign, below.