Model with Down Syndrome Performs at Fashion Shows Embracing the World
The awardee of the Fervent Global Love of Lives award and Literary Composition Award by Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation in their 24th cycle, recently toured Taiwan. Through her videos and sharing, she encouraged followers to see the pricelessness of life.
Madeline Stuart is the world’s first model with down-syndrome who has over a million fans. When she was 8 weeks old, Stuart underwent heart surgery and doctors predicted she would peak at the mental age of an average 7 year old. Despite her potential being seemingly limited by diagnosis of physicians, her mother still traveled around the globe with Stuart to increase her field of view and face the world together.
Stuart fell in love with being a runway model after she and her mother entered an Australian fashion show in 2015. Since then her dream to become a model was set and the results were shocking. She has paid special attention to her health, diet and exercise for her career.
After posting her photos, she quickly gained over 100,000 followers and 7,000,000 views, making headlines in Iceland, Germany, United States and the United Kingdom. In 2016, she performed at New York’s Fashion Week. Stuart has performed at 103 fashion shows to date and was the first model with down-syndrome to perform at London, Paris, China, Dubai, Los Angeles and Birmingham’s Fashion Week. She is also a founder of a dance company with many awards and sponsors dozens of non-profit organizations. In 2018, she experienced heart failure. Fortunately, after 26 days of surgery she managed to cover, she now tours to deliver speeches alongside her mother.
Ji Peng-Fong’s story is equally motivational. Under unideal circumstances, Ji was a national champion in a talent and swimming competition. He also has a street performing artist license and has won a presidential education award.
Ji was born in Zhongliao Mountain to a harsh family. He was frail at birth, having impaired vision, heart illness and low IQ. Despite this, his mother did not give up, she worked day and night. In the past, Ji was bullied at school and his mother even battled breast cancer. Now their situation has improved and they are in a position to help those in need, setting a great example for others.
Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation promotes Fervent Global Love of Lives events. Over 24 years, these events has given recognition to warriors spanning across 7 continents and 68 countries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, events were not able to be hosted; however, the foundation continues to spread awareness through inspirational stories.
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