Claire Reid
A woman has carved out a successful career as a model despite doctors warning her parents that she might never walk or talk - and with one nurse even suggesting her parents ‘leave her’ at the hospital after she was born.
Ellie Goldstein, 21, made history by becoming the first model with Down’s syndrome to feature in major international campaigns with brands such as Gucci and gracing the front cover of Vogue.
She recently bought her own home in Essex - no mean feat at just 21 - and, alongside her modelling career, is also studying performing arts at college.
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Oh, and if all that wasn't enough, she’s also a published author - penning a book about her life titled Against All Odds.
Ellie has defied expectations her entire life and has a message to the doctors who told her parents she was unlikely to ever walk.
“So now I’m a model, an author, a student and a homeowner,” she told the Daily Mail. “I’d like to tell that to the doctor who said I’d never walk or talk!”
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Proud mum Yvonne, 59, says that antenatal scans failed to detect any abnormalities so she and her husband Mark, 63, were shocked to discover that Ellie had Down’s syndrome after she was born.
Yvonne admits that she struggled to accept her daughter’s diagnosis in the first few weeks.
She told the publication: “The way they [the medics] handled it, that we might want to give her up, made me nervous about getting close to Ellie.
“I couldn’t really bond. I’d think: ‘What’s the point of getting close? She’s not going to be here for long?’
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"I was very confused about what it all meant; we were just told to ‘read the leaflets’, but they left me in no doubt it was bad.”
They were even told by nurse that they might want to ‘leave her’ at the hospital, but the thought never entered Yvonne and Mark’s heads.
Yvonne continued: "I often say to Mark, ‘Can you believe how things are turning out?’
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“People actually recognise Ellie when we’re out and, if you Google her name, she’s everywhere.
“Of course, Ellie is special to us but it’s wonderful that the rest of the world can now see how amazing she is, too. She’s proof that people who have difficulties are capable of so much more than some might think.
"I’ll never forget the doctor who marched into my room after the birth holding her up and saying, ‘This is Ellie, she’s got Down’s syndrome. She won’t walk or talk. She won’t go to university.’
“Or the nurse who came in and said, ‘Do you want to leave her here? That’s what the last mum with one of these did.’
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“Fortunately, we could see, within a few weeks, that she was bright, cheeky and determined.
"So, we decided: we’re going to bring her up as Ellie first and put the fact she’s got Down’s syndrome aside as much as possible.”