Speechless: Young Kiwi defies disability
EMMASykes has learnt a few lessons about perseverence – but now she’s happy to make light of her Down syndrome.
As a toddler she was turned away from 10 different preschools and as a teenager she lost her mum, Carolyn, to cancer. Father Tony has brought up Emma and her younger sister Nicki, who also has Down syndrome.
On leaving school, she applied for jobs at many different companies – few even replied.
Now 22, Emma has faced challenges most young women would never imagine in their worst nightmares, but she has never complained.
Her inability to speak is one of the developmental and intellectual delays caused by her CHRIS SKELTON / STUFF Down syndrome – but this year, she took on a challenge that would daunt many: with her dad’s help, she’s setting up her own business manufacturing soy-based candles.
The idea for the business, called Downlights, came after a group trip to an Ed Sheeran concert and a meeting with Jennifer Del Bel, owner of candle-making company Illumina.
Tony said the company name was a nod to Emma’s unique genetic makeup.
‘‘Normally the word down is not particularly happy. I know I wanted to have the word down in it,’’ Tony says. ‘‘But light is a happy word.’’
In less than a week, they’ve sold more than 70 candles and if the enterprise continues to grow, they intend to employ other people with Down syndrome.