Isabella Neville fulfils 'impossible' modelling dream
Isabella Neville, the daughter of former Manchester United and England football star Phil Neville, was born with cerebral palsy but that hasn't stopped her from fulfilling her 'impossible' childhood dream of making waves in the fashion world!
The teenager, who turns 13 this week, has just been signed by mainstream modelling agency Source Models - becoming the first girl on their books with a disability.
Isabella joined Lorraine on the sofa this morning alongside proud mum Julie who spoke of her delight at her daughter's achievement!
Isabella was born 10 weeks premature and spent the first two months of her life in a neo-natal intensive care unit.
Doctors diagnosed Isabella with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects movement and co-ordination, when she was just 18 months and warned her parents, Julie and Phil, that she may never walk or talk. Recalling the moment doctors delivered their prognosis, Julie told Lorraine: ''The prognosis was quite bleak at that time. I remember going home and I cried myself to sleep on the stairs that night.''
But Isabella defied doctors' grim predictions and has gone on to exceed expectations.
She has learnt to walk, play sport and dance just like any other able-bodied teenager. For several years, Isabella's condition meant she had to walk with the use of a walking frame and splints on her legs. But thanks to her hard work, determination and refusal to give up, Isabella can now walk unaided but wears a brace for support.
''From the moment she learnt to walk, Isabella has broken boundaries and she continues to do that," Julie said, adding that, ''we're so proud and humbled by what she does every single day!'.
Achieving the impossible is nothing out of the ordinary for Isabella. She admires supermodels Kylie Jenner and Gigi Hadid but never imagined that she'd follow in their footsteps. ''I just like to keep going,'' she said.
With a distinct under-representation of people with disabilites in the modelling and fashion industry, could Isabella be the trailblazer to change all that?
We certainly think she's got what it takes!