World Down Syndrome Day: Celebrating a young Montrealer who spreads joy
Posted March 16, 2022 11:41 am.
Last Updated March 16, 2022 6:38 pm.
Matteo Racanelli is one of an estimated 45,000 Canadians who have Down Syndrome.
The 11-year-old boy from Montreal is a ray of sunshine for all who know him.
“Looking at the world through his eyes, all you see is beauty, kindness and all heart,” said his mother Sonia Rodi. “He totally shifts any mood. Any day you might have, he just makes it brighter and better. Just by smiling, by his jokes, just by being who he is.”
“We all have something to offer and it’s important that we own it, we walk tall with it because it makes us who we are. It’s like a rainbow, I can’t picture one colour, we need multiple colours to make it beautiful, to make it shine. That’s what he is for us, he’s like that pot of gold that we found. And it should be celebrated.”
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day – a day dedicated to creating awareness for the most frequently occurring chromosomal congenital anomaly in Canada. Approximately one in every 781 babies are born with Down syndrome.
Those living with it continue to face challenges.
“The biggest challenge I would say is in terms of services, acceptance,” said Rodi. “I look at him and I see all his potential and I just feel we’re lacking.
“We’ve made great strides. But I think there’s so much more that we need to do, in terms of inclusion, in terms of acceptance, in terms of services, in terms of opportunities given to them, in terms of the information we provide to families, how we deliver diagnoses, resources that we have for families, in terms of other families that we can talk to and we can share our journey and really create that hope and really give them an inside view of life with a child with Down Syndrome.
“He’s taught us so much and we’ve just altered our life and the way we look at our life and the way we handle certain situations. Things that we used to get stressed over, don’t seem so big anymore. He’s so kind and has such a big heart that just wants us to improve ourselves and be the best version of ourselves every day.”
