A little girl with Down Syndrome was thrilled to spot her own face in a Tesco advert after modelling for the Christmas campaign.
Meesha Willis, 31, a teacher from Newport, Wales, lives with her husband, Steven, 31, and their two children, Aureya, 2, and Alyssa, 1, who was born with Down Syndrome.
Upon her diagnosis being confirmed, the parents claim only negative expectations about her development were relayed, and they were left unsure about the future.
But despite all odds, the plucky tot has scored her first modelling deal for Tesco’s F&F Christmas clothing range – which has left the family “overjoyed.”
An adorable picture of Alyssa posing in front of her campaign in-store has gone viral on social media, showing the toddler looking thrilled with her modelling debut.
The family were stunned to spot the huge shot in-store at Tesco recently.
“I can’t believe she’s a Christmas model as we never expected to have a daughter who’s a model”, Meesha told NeedToKnow.online.
“We couldn’t believe it and I nearly cried, it was very surprising.
“I had no idea she was going to be featured on this scale, as they don’t initially tell you what the photos will be used for – all we knew was that this was for F&F.
“It was a little bit strange, as the photo shoot was back in August and she was dressed as Mrs Clause.
“However, we didn’t think much of it and assumed we were only having a nice family day out.
“I remember waiting for Halloween to pass and hoping to see the photo being used on their Instagram page or something, as I didn’t expect for her face to be in store.”
Meesha recalls being with her family in Alton Towers and upon receiving the news, they stopped in their tracks, despite being caught up in rainy conditions.
She said: “I saw the massive poster and I knew we had to see it right away.
“Alyssa couldn’t stop smiling and was pointing to the poster while shouting, as I think she knew it was her.
“Aureya, her sister, kept shouting ‘Alyssa’ over and over while staring at the poster.
“We’ve had friends and family across the UK sending us pictures of her in their local store and I think she’s in quite a few now.”
Zebedee, a company that specialises in helping disabled models live out their dreams, shared the post online after helping to facilitate the shoot.
Sue Moore, the senior booker, wrote: “If you have had a rough day and need something to make you smile – take a look at this image of our Zebedee mini model Alyssa who has Down Syndrome, as she spotted a great big picture of herself in her local Tesco. This is why I love my job so much.”
Alyssa is pictured smiling away while sitting in a trolley, with her festive photo pictured in the background amongst the store’s children’s clothes range.
The post racked up over 2,000 likes and users flocked to the comments to share their admiration for the tot’s smiley reaction.
“What a truly joyful picture. Thanks for sharing,” one person said.
Another user added: “What a lovely smile!!”
“She’s beautiful,” someone else commented, followed by a clapping emoji.
Another person added: “So cute!”
“Excellent! Well done and so happy to see this. God bless her!” one person said.
Meesha added: “I can’t put into words how proud I am.
“It’s only her first modelling job, but she’s got a few others [lined up] which we’re waiting to hear back from.
“She’s such a cheeky little girl and we’re so pleased with how she’s doing.
“We think she’s perfect and has exceeded our expectations completely.”
