Life for the parents of children with disabilities certainly isn’t always easy.
Down syndrome occurs in about 1 out of every 700 babies.
Grace Isabella Wharton, from Cheshire, just happened to be the one of them.
But it wasn’t an easy discovery for her parents, Cheryl and John Wharton. When they realized that their daughter were born different, Cheryl confessed that she cried for 24 hours.
‘There’s such a lot of negativity surrounding Down syndrome,” Cheryl explained.
However, their daughter turned out to be a blessing, and a successful model at the age of 7.
Despite her challenges, Grace has already become an inspiration for young girls of all shapes, sizes, and abilities everywhere.
She’s already a successful model!
It all started with a lucky chance, as her mom took her to a modeling photo shootn for people with disabilities.
Cheryl and John were determined to do everything they could to help their daughter live a vibrant, happy life.
And on her first professional photo shoot, Grace just amazed everyone! For everyone involved is was crystal clear: Grace had found her calling.
Since her birth, Grace has always been a cheerful, confident and active little girl despite the Down Syndrome.
“Grace was then signed up within a very short space of time. Disney showed interest in her and she’s done work with them, CBeebies and the BBC since. She’s been really busy,” Cheryl told Daily Mail.
Grace is now working for Zebedee Management, a company that represents over 300 models with disabilities.
The company carries a very important message to the world and hopes to remove the stigma associated with disabilities.
I think it’s good that more companies have begun to include proper representation for groups that had once been left out of ad campaigns, including the Down syndrome community!
Sometimes, our world and society offers these people very limited options for self-realization.
Grace, who is already pursuing her successful modeling career, is one of the people who can change that!
The schoolgirl also starred in a diversity campaign called, ‘Behind the Scars’, and has amassed more than 1,000 followers on Instagram, according to Daily Mail.
With her vibrant smile and confident personality, Grace is a perfect trailblazer to pave the way for others.
A Down syndrome diagnosis usually comes with some following health problems: Hearing and vision problems, congenital heart defect at birth or the heart diseases in the future.
Grace have still have some trouble with speech, due to low muscle tone making it hard to properly form the sounds to make words.
”Grace has been through a lot since she was born. She has had some major surgeries, but she’s never been really ill”, her mom said.
But if there’s anything Grace does well, it’s spread a message of positivity.
Even though Grace thinks it is very fun to work as a model, there are other important things in the world for this curious 7-year-old.
For example, Grace has been pretty successful at school and has become one of the most popular members in her class.
And Grace’s teacher, Charlotte Williams, recognised her potential and ability to learn straight away.
Charlotte said: ‘I am very lucky because I have had Grace in my class for two years now.
Her mom hopes that Grace’s story will be able to raise awareness for other families who have been affected by Down Syndrome.
The good thing is that society is changing a lot now – for the better. Hopefully people like Grace are changing people’s perspectives.
”It is very important for us to get the message across that she is just a little girl who happens to have Down Syndrome. It’s no big deal, she is a feisty little girl and will always just be our daughter”, Cheryl said.
Grace’s father, John, added: ‘She’s always come through everything that she was faced with. She’s our little fighter.’
Grace is just adorable! Makes me happy to know she is modeling and leading a lovely life.
I’ve never met a person with Down Syndrome who wasn’t always smiling and happy. God just gave her a lot of extras…
One extra chromosome, extra sweet personality, extra easy-going disposition, extra uniqueness, extra large room in the kingdom of Heaven!
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