A stranger's kindness: 'You never know what a person can do unless you give them a chance'

A mother of two beautiful young girls – one of whom has Down’s syndrome – admitted that she was left in floods of tears by the kind actions of a couple of strangers.

In a Facebook post which detailed her touching story, the Canada-based woman described a recent outing her younger daughter, Sophia.

“I sat in Tim Horton’s with my daughter’s as I do often,” she began.

“Two ladies sitting near us started to stare and whisper. This is a pretty frequent occurrence for us you see; because my daughter Sophia was born with Down Syndrome.

“I sat there and watched these two women crane their necks to get a better look at her; completely oblivious to the fact that I was staring right back. Today it bothered me. It really bothered me.”

She continued: “Just then, a couple approached me, and I thought, ‘Oh great! More people who want to take a closer look!’”

However, to her surprise, the couple immediately showed her daughter remarkable kindness – first greeting Sophia with “a high five and a handshake” before then telling a story.

“He told me that he had watched the news last night,” she described. “There was an interview of a mother who had recently given birth to a child with a major disability. She was on the news defending her decision to keep her baby.

"She was defending her choice NOT to terminate despite her doctors encouraging her to do so.

“He said: ‘The point is, you never know a person’s impact on the world. You can never know what a person is able to do unless you give them a chance.’

“He looked at me just before he turned to walk away and said: ‘You are a beautiful person. Your daughter is beautiful. Congratulations!’”

Understandably, the mother “started to cry” in the aftermath.

“I sat in the middle of a coffee shop crying into a paper napkin,” she said. “That man was the first complete stranger to ever congratulate me on the birth of my daughter Sophia.

“He was the first complete stranger to recognize her WORTH. Her VALUE. Her BEAUTY.

“In a world where my daughter’s life is whispered about, where she is stared at, this man saw her IMPORTANCE.”

The unnamed woman shares her experiences of life with her Downs daughter on her Slice Of Life Facebook page – describing it as a way to capture “my perfectly imperfect life”.

And in a previous post, she shared her raw joy at raising a Downs baby.

“There was a time when Sophia was first born that I was so angry. I was angry that my baby was born with a Down Syndrome when I knew people who were abusing their bodies by taking drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking while pregnant, and their babies were fine.

"The first few months I had a hard time grasping all of it… and often wondered what I did ‘wrong’.

“I don't feel that way anymore. In fact I have not felt that way in a very long time. It was a such short period of time in my life I hate to even admit it. 

“I feel so blessed to have this sweet, smiling, little girl for my daughter I often wonder now what I did to deserve such a precious gift. I often feel unworthy.”