4-year-old Maren Anderson, who has a rare disease caused by a gene mutation, uses a wheelchair. While shopping near her home in Virginia with her mother Carolyn, Maren became fascinated by a beauty ad at a local store. It featured a young woman who was also in a wheelchair. Carolyn said the moment was particularly meaningful for them because it was the first time her daughter, who has receptive and expressive language delays, was able to connect with a wheelchair user like herself. "She got to see herself in this picture, and that planted a seed for her to see that there is a place for kids like her in this world. She was included." Carolyn's post has been shared more than 75,000 times on Facebook and the story went around the word. Maren and the model in the ad later met.
Go to this story at 4 Washington NBC.
Shomari Stone, Reporter. Original story posted August 16, 2019.
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Go to this story at the Daily Mail UK newspaper.
Erica Tempesta, Reporter. Original story posted August 20, 2019.
© 2020 Associated Newspapers Ltd and Daily Mail.
Photography by Carolyn Kovacs Anderson. All Rights Reserved.
