By Sam, her Dad
Ava was born six weeks early on 4 October 2019, weighing a small 4lb 1oz and was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome when she was just five days old. Due to a few complications, she spent four weeks in Stoke Mandeville NICU where we met some amazing and supportive people. She is our first daughter and despite her surprise extra chromosome, she was instantly loved by our family and friends! She loves playing with her mum and dad and her personality is really shining through, she is particularly cheeky in the way that she will ensure she gets our undivided attention! Musical toys are her favourite, yes the ones that she can drum and make lots of noise with, although she does have a soft spot for her knitted premie Octopus that she was given in hospital.
Recently her eating has come along in leaps and bounds with her now enjoying getting messy with a few finger foods. She enjoys her meals made and prepared by her mum Zoe, as long as they are followed by her favourite fruit…mangos! Bath time is also a highlight of her day, and she enjoys splashing around as much as possible! Her main dislikes would be avocado, coming out of the bath or having to wait for food, but all in all she is a very positive, happy little lady with a very big smile.
Why did you suggest DSA as the charity beneficiary this year to Oktra?
Each year we ask the business (in a poll like event) who the charity should be, but this year one goal was to find a charity who may be celebrating their 25th year anniversary like us. Obviously I would have always put the DSA forward, but the fact that you are celebrating your 50th anniversary made it the perfect match. You can read more about Oktra’s support for the DSA here.
The DSA are obviously close to my family’s heart and this has been a great way for us to raise some positive awareness of such a wonderful organisation. The DSA have been a key source of information for my family from day one. In fact, I remember an information pack given to us when Ava was first diagnosed which had a link to your website, which has now become a firm favourite.
You mentioned that Ava has submitted her own artwork too…
We always invite colleagues, friends, family, suppliers and clients to submit art, so we couldn’t wait to get Ava involved this year! She loves strong colours so we prepared some bright kids friendly paint on a couple of canvases and then let her work her magic… we soon we had some interesting abstract pieces of art ready for submission!
