Mila’s Story

Mila’s Story

Mila’s Story, by her mum, Lisa

Mila was my first born. I was 30 years old and had been given a 1:45000 chance in having a child with Down syndrome. Mila was born by C-section at 38 weeks. I fell in love with her straight away, she was a perfect baby girl. I was told Mila had Down syndrome 48 hours later.

Although I felt incredibly sad and scared at the unknown, my love for her grew stronger. We discovered Mila had a serious heart defect at 4 months old and we spent our first Christmas and New Year at Glenfield hospital, where Mila had life saving open heart surgery. We were soon to discover that Mila was even more amazing!

At just 8 pounds in weight, she battled through the recovery, and has just gone from strength to strength. I knew early intervention was key in a child’s development and I remember reading to her at every opportunity. I did my research and set about finding groups that would help Mila progress. As soon as Mila was able to sit, she would hold a book and babble to herself.

Mila continued to learn and used Makaton before starting to use a few words at the age of 3.Mila went to a mainstream school and was a popular member of her class and made lots of friends, some of whom are still friends today. Mila then went on to mainstream secondary and met her best friend, Emily. We choose to send Mila to an SEN 6th form and college, as we felt a gap was starting with her peers.

This was a great decision and Mila soon had a strong peer group and began socialising out of school with her new friends. Mila is an amazing dancer, she started piano lessons at 12 years old and played in school concerts. She is a member of a choir, attends a weekly youth club and is Queen of Tik Tok.

She loves hair and beauty and never leaves home without applying her lipstick! Mila started working in a café at 15, and also volunteered at a nursing home.

She is now 20, and is studying hospitality and catering at Portland college. She would love to work in a restaurant. Mila has a boyfriend called Thomas, and they have been dating for just over two years. Mila has added so much value to our lives. Everyone who meets Mila only has positive things to say about her, and I’m so very proud to be her mum. I used to worry a lot about what the future holds for Mila. These days, I’m a little more relaxed as she seems to dance her way through life with a smile on her face .