‘I Want To Inspire Other Amputees To Chase Dreams’

Double amputee Daisy-May Demetre is determined to not let anything stop her from achieving her dreams.

At the age of 14, Daisy-May, from Birmingham, has carved out a successful modelling career, appearing in fashion weeks across the world and adverts for huge brands like Nike, TK Maxx and Primark.

As she prepares to model during Birmingham Fashion Week in September, she spoke to the BBC, encouraging amputees to be confident and go for “whatever they want” in life.

“Your disabilities shouldn’t define you, you can believe in anything,” she said.

The model was 18 months old when she had her legs amputated after being born with Fibular Hemimelia, a condition where part or all of the fibula bone in the leg is missing.

She said that strutting on a catwalk was a statement to represent the “strength, beauty and power of being different”.

“I don’t need perfect legs to walk a powerful path. The only thing I need is courage and I’ve got plenty of that,” she added.

Her dad Alex said that finding out about Daisy-May’s condition was a “really tough time” where he turned to alcohol and gambling, and lost around £70,000.

However, when Daisy-May was seven he spotted a disabled modelling agency on TV and was motivated to turn his life around and help her reach her dreams.

“She inspired me to become better and get over the adversities. Her disability became my ability and I promised her that she would model around the world,” he said.

“I tried everything, gambling is an awful addiction and it was really tough to get out of but after that promise I stopped there and then.”

In May, she took part in a 5km run in Greece named Spetsathlon to inspire inclusivity, which she completed in two hours with help from her dad.

She said that although the race was “really hard” and caused her to get blisters, she was glad to have completed it.

“I was proud that I actually made it through the finish line, ” she said.

Her dad described Daisy-May as a “gift to be treasured” and said the main objective of the race was to inspire inclusivity in Greece.

“I want to inspire other amputees to do whatever they want, their disabilities shouldn’t define them,” Daisy-May said.