We sometimes dream of doing great things but many people fall short of their own expectations because they don’t follow through and push forward until they see success. Every once in a while, however, we hear about somebody who overcomes incredible odds and it inspires us to greater things. That is the case with Madeline Stuart, a 22-year-old model who has Down syndrome.
Madeline is from Brisbane Australia and she didn’t start out on top of the world. She started by uploading pictures of herself to social media in 2015. By the time she was finished, however, she would be the first model with Down syndrome in the fashion industry. She would also have another first, being the first to walk down the runway in New York fashion week.
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Not long after she began posting pictures to Facebook, she got some attention from the right people. She had plenty of followers and it wasn’t long before she and her mother, Roseanne were taking modeling requests from various agencies.
Madeline never stopped pushing forward. Her mother said the following in a 2015 interview: “The world was ready. The world wants to be inclusive, it just hasn’t had anyone on such a platform that they were able to do it easily.”
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Some people are still holding onto the old prejudice and living in their old-fashioned ways. They thought that the changes being introduced were wrong but the momentum had already started.
“Of course there’s bullying on the Internet,” Rosanne explained. “That has happened a lot, but we don’t take notice of that. That is a reflection of the person who is doing the bullying—it’s not a reflection of what we’re doing.”
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Those bullies are going to have to make a lot more noise if they want to be heard.
Madeline is well on her way with more than 1 million followers across her social media accounts. She has done shows in Paris, London, Russia, Dubai and China. Fashion magazines also are featuring her left and right.
“She’s always been a positive young woman, but now she’s just come alive,” Rosanne said. “Meeting all these people and learning all these new cultures just made her grow as a person. She’s become such a secure young person.”
The world is definitely a better place with people like Madeline to give us encouragement and inspiration.
Source: Newsner
