A 33-year-old artist with Down’s Syndrome showcased her paintings at Tate Modern in London after she won a competition.
When Emma Anderson with Down’s Syndrome was born at the Rosie hospital in Cambridge, her 66-year-old mother Mirka Anderson was told she could leave her at the hospital because her daughter wouldn’t “do anything”.
Watch the artist with Down’s Syndrome who showcased her paintings at Tate Modern
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Emma’s mother said: “The consultant told me and my then-husband she had Down’s Syndrome. She said ‘you don’t have to take her home because she won’t do anything anyway’.”
“Until now I can’t digest it. Needless to say, I took her home.”
But, Emma proved everyone wrong as she got a GCSE in Art and won a competition to exhibit her paintings at Tate Modern in London after she was encouraged by a teacher.
She was one of only two students from the college whose artwork was shown at Tate Modern in London.
Emma now sells her paintings at public exhibitions.
Emma’s mother Mirka says her daughter was not given proper medical checks at birth as she was released from the hospital with a gigantic hole in her heart.
She said: “She was puking over my shoulder for a month. I took her to the local surgery and the doctor said ‘put your ear to her chest. It’s like Niagra falls’.”
When Emma was 18 months old, surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital patched up the hole in her heart chambers using artificial tissue.
Mirka said: “It was very damaging as a mother who had just given birth to be told your baby is a useless piece of flesh. Look at her now. She’s a super kid.”
Emma does her work at the Rowan foundation in Cambridge – a charity which provides tuition and studio space to people with disabilities.
Emma also volunteers at a nursery and look after the children.
Mirka has directed a documentary about Emma’s life named ‘The Sky is the Limit’.
The documentary has won recognition at film festivals in the USA, Chile, Spain, Venezuela, and Norway.
Mirka said: “People cried when they watched it. I’m showing it can be done, with patience and tolerance. We all have abilities, limited abilities, disabilities.”
“I treated my Down’s Syndrome daughter as Emma. She was always Emma.”
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