Double amputee, 9, to walk New York Fashion Week runway: 'Disability doesn’t stop you'
(FOX NEWS) -- A young girl in the U.K. isn’t letting her disability stop her from achieving her dreams.
Daisy-May Demetre, 9, will reportedly become the first child double amputee to strut her stuff on the runway at New York Fashion Week in September, SWNS reported.
Daisy-May, of Birmingham, was born with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect where part or all of the fibula bone is missing. The condition is rare, occurring in 1 in 50,000 births, according to the Generic and Rare Disease Information Center.
Daisy-May Demetre, of Birmingham. (SWNS)
When she was 18 months old, Daisy-May’s parents Alex and Claire Demetre chose to have both of the young girl's legs amputated — the right above the knee and the left below the knee — in the hopes of giving her a better quality of life with prosthetics.
“We had the choice for her to live like that or to go for the operation,” Alex, Daisy-May’s father, said. “We didn’t know at the time that Daisy-May would be as good as she is now.”
The 9-year-old was born with fibular hemimelia. (SWNS)
Indeed: Daisy-May is living proof determination can defy all odds. She is a gymnast as well as a model for Boden, the country’s largest clothing catalog, according to SWNS. She’s also modeled for Nike and the British retailer Matalan, among others.
But come Sept. 8, Daisy-May will take her modeling career to new heights when she walks the runway at New York Fashion Week. Daisy-May will walk for the French-inspired children's fashion line Lulu et Gigi Couture. She was approached about the opportunity after the line’s founder and head designer, Eni Hegedus-Buiron, spotted her modeling in London.
Daisy-May before her amputations. (SWNS)
“I was asked if I was OK with having an amputee walk in my show. To be honest I was surprised by the question. For me, a child is a child and thus is beautiful and perfect,” Hegedus-Buiron told the outlet. “So of course I said yes.”
Alex told SWNS he is proud that his daughter will make history, but noted he and his wife hope to see more child amputees featured on the runway.
“Disability doesn’t stop you — it definitely doesn't stop Daisy,” Alex said, adding his daughter “belongs on the catwalk.”
The young girl is also a gymnast. (SWNS)
That said, modeling doesn't define Daisy-May. Rather, Alex said, it’s a small part of who she is.
“She just does Daisy, it is the way she goes about life with a smile on her face. Whether it's dancing, singing — she is a very special little girl,” he said.
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