9-Year-old Double Amputee Made History on ‘New York Fashion Week’ Catwalk

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By Good News Network,  Sep 1 2019 , A 9-year-old British schoolgirl is set to make history after she becomes the first child double amputee to walk the catwalk at New York Fashion Week.

Daisy-May Demetre has been chosen as a model for the French-inspired fashion line Lulu et Gigi Couture after its founder saw her modeling in London.

Her appearance at the prestigious New York Fashion Week on September 8th will mark the first time a young double amputee has starred in the show.

The Birmingham schoolgirl is also set to strut her stuff in Paris Fashion Week at the end of next month.

Daisy-May’s legs were amputated as a result of being born with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect in which part of the fibular bone in the leg is missing.

Her parents, Alex and Claire Demetre, were shocked to learn of her condition after a doctor consulted a baby scan and informed them that the child would “have no legs”.

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Her parents Alex and Claire were given the difficult choice of either watching Daisy-May grow up with deformed feet that she wouldn’t be able to use or allowing doctors to perform a double amputation.

Hoping prosthetics would give her a better quality of life, she had the bottom of both limbs removed when she was just 18 months old.

Her parents never dreamed that their daughter would go on to become a fearless gymnast, as well as a model for Boden, Britain’s largest clothing catalogue.

“We didn’t know at the time that Daisy-May would be as good as she is now,” said Alex. “At the time, I was pretty isolated myself—I had a drinking problem and gambling addictions.

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“That has all changed—and that’s down to her taking each day with a big smile on her face,” he added. “She motivates me and I motivate her.”

Daisy-May got her big break in modeling as a result of Alex watching TV on his day off. He saw a feature from Zebedee Management, a modeling agency which casts children with disabilities in ad campaigns, and got in touch with them on a whim.

Since taking up modeling, Daisy-May has also worked for Nike and Matalan, and represented Lulu et Gigi at London Kids’ Fashion Week.

Daisy-May’s career has since sky-rocketed in popularity, and she has been inundated with interest from people wanting to cast her in modeling projects and advertisements.

Lulu et Gigi founder Eni Hegedűs-Buiron said: “For me, a child is a child and thus is beautiful and perfect,” she added.

Alex, meanwhile, says that he couldn’t be more proud of his daughter.

“[Daisy is] going to be making a little bit of history,” he boasted. “It is a good thing she is first to do it, but going forward, we want child amputees to be modeling at these shows all the time.

“Disability doesn’t stop you; it definitely doesn’t stop Daisy. She is fitter than most grown men I know.“But the modeling doesn’t define her, it is just a part of what does,” he added. “She just does Daisy, the way she goes about life with a smile on her face. 9-Year-old Double Amputee to Make History on ‘New York Fashion Week’ Catwalk
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John Oliver Sells His Bob Ross Painting Raises Record $1.5 Million for Public Television

Bob Ross painting Cabin at Sunset – credit, screenshot via John Oliver’s Junk

GNN reported recently that a Los Angeles auction house recently handled the sale of three paintings by the famous TV artist Bob Ross, with the proceeds of over $600,000 going to fund public television and radio.

Inspired by the effort, HBO’s comedy news host John Oliver announced that he too had an original Ross that he would auction for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

On the last episode of the most recent season of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the British-born TV host revealed an auction catalogue called “John Oliver’s Junk” headlined by Cabin at Sunset, which Ross painted in season 10 of his show The Joy of Painting.

It managed to set a new auction record for a Bob Ross painting of $1,035,000 after 35 bids.

“We’ve actually accumulated a bunch of weird artifacts on this show over the years that we could definitely auction off to raise some much needed money,” Oliver said on last week’s show. “I am proud to announce last week tonight’s first ever auction in aid of public media.”

The proceeds from the sales of Cabin at Sunset and 34 other items totaled $1.5 million which has been transferred to the Public Media Bridge Fund which helps support stations and programs in need of funding.

Most of the items included show memorabilia, including a pair of golden sneakers Oliver promised to wear almost decade ago if former FIFA President Sep Blatter resigned, a cabbage that Oliver married in a segment on AI-generated art, and a jockstrap worn by Russel Crowe.

A pair of VIP tickets to a live show taping caught over $110,000.

While the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a GSE that funds public radio and television in America, was receiving over $1 billion of its budget from the government, anyone who watches PBS or listens to NPR notes the frequency with which they run pledge drives. This along with other for-profit productions generates substantial revenue that helps keep the CBP operational.

It was the idea of Bob Ross Inc., the company that manages the painter’s likeness and property, to hold the auction in support of public television, something which he loved so much.

“I think this actually would have been Bob’s idea,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. “And when I think about that, it makes me very proud.”

Home in the Valley, (1993) Cliffside, (1990) and Winter’s Peace (1993) were priced to start at Bonham’s auctioneers at between $25,000 – $30,000, but all three quickly exploded in action.The first brought $229,100, the second $114,800, and Winter’s Peace went for a staggering $318,000. John Oliver Sells His Bob Ross Painting Raises Record $1.5 Million for Public Television
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