Mums make video to show they ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’

A BEAUTIFUL Carpool Karaoke-style video featuring four Coventry mums and their children with Down’s Syndrome has been made.

A total of 50 mums and their children from across the country made the emotional video to the song A Thousand Years using Makaton – a form of sign language.

The mums hope the video, made for World Down’s Syndrome Day today, will change perceptions of people with the condition and show how they “Wouldn’t Change a Thing”.

The idea came from Coventry mum Becky Carless, whose four-yearold son Archie has Down’s Syndrome.

She saw a Singing Hands car karaoke video signed with Makaton and wanted to replicate the idea with other mums and their young children who also have an extra chromosome.

The mums are all part of a Facebook group known as Designer Genes created for parents who have a child with Down’s Syndrome born in 2013/14. Many of them have watched Singing Hands videos to help them learn Makaton to support their children’s communication development.

Becky said: “We believe this video really does have the potential to be the most viewed across the world on World Down Syndrome Day this year, so we urge everyone to share, share, share to help us make it a success!

“I feel so proud to have come up with this idea.

“People around the world are sharing it and it’s crazy to think I came up with this small idea and it has gone so far.

“I have had messages from anyone and everyone across the world.”

A dad in the group pulled all the clips to produce the video titled 50 mums, 50 kids, one extra chromosome, with the .

Joanne Franklin and her son Seb and daughter Isla make their appearance 30 seconds in, while Becky and Archie are in there twice – at 36 seconds and two minutes and 54 seconds.

Next up at one minute and 21 seconds and one minute 47 seconds is Rebecca Neely and her son Simeon.

Lastly, Sarah Wilcox and her daughter Sophia appear at three minutes 46 seconds. It only went live last Friday morning and has already had more than 300,000 views on Facebook by lunchtime.

The video has been apparently supported by LA artist Christina Perri, whose song A Thousand Years, is the soundtrack.

The group contacted Christina Perri via her husband on Twitter Paul Costabile.

The group say that within an hour, the couple were declaring their heartfelt support for the idea, committing their multi-million social media following and waiving any copyright claim to the music in support of the campaign.

The artist’s husband, Paul Costabile, went on to declare that he is a lifelong advocate of children with special needs, in particular Down’s Syndrome, and had produced the film More Alike Than Different with his sister for World Down Syndrome Day in 2015.