����vlog

����vlog EIGHT NEWS AT TEN. OCTOBER IS DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH. BUT EVERY YEAR IN SEPTEMBER, THE NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY PUTS ON A PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM IN NEW YORK CITY. IT INVOLVES 500 PEOPLE WITH DOWN SYNDROME FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. AND THIS YEAR, SOME ARE FROM RIGHT HERE IN CENTRAL IOWA. THIS IS PRETTY SPECIAL. ����vlog KAYLA JAMES JOINS US NOW. KAYLA, YOU TALKED TO A FAMILY WHO LIVES IN WEST DES MOINES WHO’S PART OF THIS? THEY ARE. SO THIS IS AXEL LEIKER HILL, AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF ONE OF HIS OLDER BROTHERS, TRISTAN. NOW, AXEL NEVER MET TRISTAN, HIS DAD SAY TRISTAN PASSED AWAY FROM WHAT THEY CALL A MEDICAL FLUKE. BUT FOR THEM, IT WAS IMPORTANT. BOTH OF THEIR SONS WITH DOWN SYNDROME TOOK PART IN THIS ANNUAL PROGRAM TO HELP HAVE AN IMPACT ON THOUSANDS OF LIVES AND CONVERSATIONS. DON’T LET TWO AND A HALF YEAR OLD AXEL SCHLEICHER, HILL’S AGE, FOOL YOU. HE’S A TODDLER, A CAN YOU JUST WAIT WHO HAS A LOT TO SAY? MAKING HIM THE PERFECT YOUNGEST SON FOR ADAM AND SEAN LEIKER HILL COMPLETING THEIR FAMILY OF SIX. GABE, WHO IS SIX SON, JUST STARTED KINDERGARTEN THIS YEAR. HE IS FIVE AND NEXT COMES TRISTAN, WHO, LIKE AXEL, HAS DOWN SYNDROME AND WOULD BE FOUR THIS YEAR. HE PASSED AWAY WHEN HE WAS FIVE MONTHS OLD. WE HAD HIM FROM BIRTH. WE GOT TO CUT THE CORD. LEANNE. SO IT’S FELT LIKE A FULL FAMILY, BUT NOT AS FULL AS IT COULD BE IF TRISTAN WAS STILL WITH US. BUT HIS MEMORY LIVES ON THROUGH STORIES AND PROFESSIONALLY TAKEN AND EDITED PHOTOS LIKE THIS ONE. TRISTAN ON THE LEFT AND AXEL ON THE RIGHT. IT LOOKS. IT JUST IS SUCH A FRIENDLY REMINDER. A HAPPY REMINDER OF THE LINK THAT THEY SHARE, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE NOT TOGETHER. AND THAT PHOTO IS ONE OF THOUSANDS PICKED BY THE NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY FOR ITS 31ST ANNUAL NEW YORK CITY BUDDY WALK ON SATURDAY, WHICH KICKS OFF WITH A TIMES SQUARE VIDEO PRESENTATION. WE DO IT IN THE HEART OF TIMES SQUARE, HIGHLIGHTING THESE 500 VIDEOS. THEN WE HEAD TO CENTRAL PARK FOR OUR ACTUAL WALK, WHICH IS WHERE ALL THE FUN BEGINS. THE ORGANIZATION’S PRESIDENT AND CEO SAYS THEIR PRESENCE FORMS A CONNECTION WITH THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO WALK THROUGH TIMES SQUARE, WHO GET TO ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS OF WHAT IS GOING ON, WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE? AND WE GET TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DOWN SYNDROME. ADAM AND SEAN HOPE SATURDAY WILL SHOW PEOPLE WITH LOVED ONES WITH DISABILITIES THAT THERE’S A COMMUNITY AND RESOURCES OUT THERE, AND WHILE SEEING AXEL AND TRISTAN ON A TIMES SQUARE BOARD IS GREAT, WE HAVE WORKED WITH STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES FOR MOST OF OUR CAREER. THE COUPLE AGREES. WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT IS THE IMPACT ALL THE PICTURES COULD HAVE. BOTH OF OUR HOPE IS THAT PEOPLE WILL SEE US. SEE THESE INDIVIDUALS PICTURES AND REALIZE THAT THEY’RE THE SAME. THEY JUST NEED A LITTLE BIT EXTRA, EXTRA SUPPORT, HELP IN SCHOOL, HELP IN THE COMMUNITY, AND MORE TO SHOW THEY’RE JUST AS CAPABLE AS EVERYBODY ELSE. THE LEIKER HILLS MENTIONED GIGI’S PLAYHOUSE AS A GOOD LOCAL RESOURCE. THEY ALSO MENTIONED THE NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY AS A PLACE TO GO FOR SUPPORT, AND MORE. AS FOR THE HOUR LONG TIME SQUARE PRESENTATION, IT’S SET FOR SATURDAY AT 830 IN THE MORNING AND WILL BE STREAMED ON THE NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY’S FACEBOOK PAGE. BEN, NOT MUCH BIGGER OF A STAGE THAN TIMES SQUARE. KAYLA. THANK YOU. AXEL AND TRISTAN, THEY AREN’T THE ONLY IOWANS THAT ARE GOING TO BE FEATURED IN TIMES SQUARE AS PART OF THE PRESENTATION. THAT’S RIGHT. IN AUGUST, ����vlog TOLD YOU ABOUT HARRISON DAYTON, A TWO AND A HALF YEAR OLD FROM MALCOLM. HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME WHEN HE WAS BORN AT ONLY 33 WEEKS. HIS FAMILY WILL TRAVEL TO NEW YORK TO SEE HIM FEATURED IN THAT BIG BILLBOARD IN TIMES SQUARE. AND KNOX, FROM NASHUA, WILL ALSO BE FEATURED AT BILLBOARD. HE’S FEATURED ON WILL ALSO APPEAR SATURDAY. HE WAS BORN FEBRUARY 6TH AT MERCYONE WATERLOO. KNOX WAS ALSO DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME AT BIRTH AND SPENT ABOUT SIX WEEKS IN T