T WIN s Ta Tar Off The Telly! Stunning!tunnin

I’m so proud of my fun-loving, talented boys K atie Meade, 33, from Iowa, USA, is the first model with Down’s syndrome to front a beauty campaign. Watch her inspiring story at lifedeathprizes.com/ downs-syndrome-model

Everyone who meets my identical twins Harry and Thomas falls in love with them – and I’m not just saying that because I’m their mum!

My 16-year-old boys are bursting with charisma, love making people smile.

But things weren’t always so positive…

A few hours after they were born, I noticed Harry’s eyes were almondshaped and the bridge of his nose was wide.

Like someone with Down’s syndrome… I thought.

Their dad David and doctors at Stepping Hill Hospital had noticed other signs of Down’s syndrome, like a crease going straight across his palms, wide gaps between his toes.

I didn’t notice the same look in Thomas, but doctors ran tests on him, as well.

I prayed desperately that my boys wouldn’t have the condition. But, when their blood-test results came back, the diagnosis was confirmed.

I burst into tears. Nothing had shown up on my scans, so I felt so unprepared. Would my boys have to suffer and struggle their way through life? the twins home, I explained to my eldest son Jordan, then 6, that they had Down’s syndrome.

‘Does that mean they’ll be ill? he asked.

‘No, they’ll need more help doing things.’ I told him.

‘That’s fine. Can we stop at the chippy on the way home?’ was his response!

He was right. Life had to go on.

It didn’t take me long to see that Harry and Thomas were so much more than their diagnosis.

They grew into such funny little tykes. Though their condition delayed their milestones and left them more vulnerable to infections, they were loved and encouraged just as much as Jordan had been at the same age.

They started mainstream nursery at 3½ years old, and adored it from the moment they walked in.

They never had any bullying, as I’d feared. Instead, other kids loved the twins, always looking out for them and including them in everything. And they loved the attention! Then, after seeing the classic musical Annie, they found their passion. Watching it over and over, they learned all the words, and even dressed up in red wigs and sparkly costumes!

Their largerthan-life characters helped us deal with health hiccups along the way.

In 2010, aged 8, Harry and Thomas were hospitalised with pneumonia.

After they were discharged, Harry’s cough persisted, so we had to return to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

I was told he’d need to be tested by a specialist for any obstruction in the throat, and may need his tonsils removed.

But I wasn’t expecting the consultant’s next question.

‘Would you mind if ITV filmed his procedure?’ he asked.

The channel was looking for kids to appear in its hit show

Children’s Hospital.

‘Sign him up, he’ll love it!’ I grinned.

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, my boy was so excited to be on TV.

Thomas would appear, too, and I’d be interviewed.

There was no time to worry about the op. The boys were far

They loved strutting their stuff – the video went viral!

too excited!

Doctors were filmed running tests and working on Harry. And the boys were thrilled to watch themselves on TV.

With stars in their eyes, last year they joined Danceworks, where kids aged 14-18 with Down’s syndrome can learn to sing and dance.

Then, a few months back, a friend told me about a fashion show being filmed at her boutique Fizz Fashion, organised by disability campaigner Bruce Turner to support diversity and equality for disabled people.

‘How would you like to be models?’ I asked the boys…

I’ll let you guess what their answer was!

Harry and Thomas had such a great time strutting their stuff for the camera, and the video quickly went viral!

My sons had messages of praise from people all over the world, and now they’ve been signed by a modelling agency for young people with disabilities, called Zebedee Management.

The fact they both have Down’s syndrome means they’ll always have someone who understands what the other is going through.

When I think back to those first, worry-filled days, I had no idea what funny, talented characters they’d both grow up to be.