A letter from Bernie, the Mother of 12-year-old Alice with Down’s Syndrome
Well, our wonderful holiday is over! It was a week spent with much laughter and fun and importantly, some real achievements for Alice! We couldn't believe our luck in winning the Skiing4All competition but little did we know at that time how much fun was in store for us! Anna promised us a good time and she certainly made sure that we had one! She helped us with all the preparations and nothing was too much trouble! At one stage we considered driving all the way. She organised free parking arrangements but then made enquiries regarding the legal necessity for us to have Winter tyres and we reverted back to the flying option. In no time, an 8 seater taxi transfer was arranged! Anna kindly made some enquiries regarding the availability of gluten free food (as Alice is on a gluten free diet). Prices and names of products were promptly emailed to me along with the usual offers to help in any other way!!
The big day soon came and when we arrived, somewhat jaded after the early start, Anna was there to meet us at our wonderful, luxury apartment with her lovely big smile and warmth for us! The children took to her straight away! Alice has two younger sisters and throughout the holiday Anna must have yearned for three hands as they all wanted to be with her! Anna was incredibly organised and even had phone sim cards ready for us. She had advised us to bring a couple of unlocked old phones with us. We were thus able to keep in contact with her free of charge throughout the stay. This was particularly good for arranging our meeting times. We were also able to co-ordinate our wonderful lunch time meets in the Alpin Centre restaurant where we were seated in our specially reserved area.
We were greeted with the same friendly service from Hervis Sports from whom we were hiring the ski equipment. Christian was fantastic with us all! Alice was reluctant to try on bulky hard ski boots but he produced cakes and smiles and helped win her round! Anna used her tried & tested technique of initially offering a grossly over-sized boot and then gradually reducing the sizes until the perfect fit was achieved with no trauma! It was amazing that the three girls were all kitted out with boots, helmet, poles and skis at no charge.
We had expected trepidation from Alice about being on skis. She is not that familiar with snow and I had warned Anna that Alice was not a particularly physical child. This was not a problem to Anna at all and she reassured me that Alice would not be taken out of her comfort zone. She stressed how important it was for Alice to like the snow environment and was quickly engaging with Alice about what was needed for the snowman they were going to make the following morning!
The days spent skiing were tiring but absolutely great fun! Anna did wonders in slowly but steadily building up Alice's confidence....Alice became used to wearing each ski in turn. As expected, she initially did not want any ski and the wearing of boots was enough! However, Anna's knowledge and experience was clearly evident as the next day, Alice asked to put both skis on together! We were all thrilled! Anna used her colourful flags and poles to make a 'tunnel' for Alice to make her way through and Alice now loves watching her journey on video.
Anna provided lots of encouragement and praise and her approach clearly worked! By the end of the sessions, Alice was able to slide down small inclines unaided with just her poles for support! We were really pleased to se that Alice now not only walks better on snow but was able to climb up or down with greater ease. Her daily and regular use of cable cars has helped to reduce her fear of moving machinery such as lifts and escalators.
The last skiing day could not have been nicer! Clear blue skies and bright sunshine made the Award Ceremony 3000m up absolutely perfect. The girls received medals and Diploma certificates and Milka chocolate treats. Again, this was captured on video and their pride could clearly be seen! The day after the skiing was our horse-riding event!! What amazed us all was Alice' s newly-founded confidence in evidence. I had expected her usual fear and need for several adults to assist with her mounting the horse and then much shrieking and apparent fear as she tried to cling onto the teacher. This was not to be! Alice was on within a minute (just the teacher helping) and in no time at all was riding around with one arm, then the other and then both up in the air and with a big smile on her face!
She did extremely well and she knew it! Anna had asked to join us for the horse-riding and we were so glad that she did as she also witnessed Alice' s confidence and obvious enjoyment. I joked to Anna that after skiing, this was easy but as I said this, I realised how true this was! Anna had given Alice the confidence to master other skills! I asked Alice whether she would have been so good a week ago if she had not been skiing and she agreed that she would have been more scared. Amazing!
There were tears from Alice as she was returning the ski equipment and more tears when she had to finally say goodbye to Anna. Then, suddenly, smiling through the tears, Alice whispered into Anna's ear: "If you ski with me next year, I will teach you horse-riding with your hands up!".
One thing is sure......we will certainly be back!!
Many thanks Anna! You have provided our Family with a holiday we will not forget! I wholeheartedly recommend you to all other families!
