The song “10,000 Hours” by Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber has perhaps never been sung as gently as it is in this performance by 6-year-old Rayce from Arkansas. The young musician calmed his younger brother Tripp, who was born with Down syndrome, using the well-known song. Nicole Powell, a loving mother, captured the heartwarming moment on camera and posted it to Facebook in January 2020. The video quickly went viral.
Tripp was only six weeks old and had just left the intensive care unit when the video was recorded. Rayce, who visited Tripp every day after school and filled him on on his duties, showed him unwavering love throughout his hospital stay. Powell claims that they had been close from the start.
She said to GMA, “Race was like, ‘Hand me the baby,’ from the moment he was born. He would merely continue talking to Tripp after school every day, telling the infant everything that had happened.
Rayce would often inform Tripp that the music was for him every time the well-known song would play. Rayce and Tripp’s unique relationship, which is certain to last into adulthood, is the ideal fit for the song’s heartfelt lyrics about spending 10,000 hours getting to know your heart.
Powell therefore realized she had to upload and share the video of Rayce singing the song online in order to raise awareness for Down syndrome. Powell also sought to de-stigmatize Down syndrome in addition to the video.
Powell reminds readers in the Facebook post that chromosomes are not counted in love. She says:
Rayce once said, “Love doesn’t count chromosomes, or aren’t we all different?”
Powell acknowledges feeling frightened when she first received the diagnosis while pregnant with Tripp. She claimed that when Tripp was born and she first heard him cry, all of her doubts vanished totally. Powell encouraged expectant mothers to “not be terrified” of their baby’s Down syndrome diagnosis in a follow-up to the initial post on December 30, 2020:
Do not be afraid like I was, she advised other expectant mothers who learn that their newborn child has Down syndrome. I guarantee the child’s siblings will adore them unlike anyone else, and he or she will be such a blessing to your family in so many ways!
Powell posted about the birth of her youngest child on Facebook on Tripp’s birthday in November of last year. Tripp’s introduction to the world was not simple, as it turned out. Powell was pretty late in her pregnancy and headed to a typical doctor’s appointment, as she writes in her post. She says that while one of her previous pregnancies had been difficult for her to carry to term, her most recent pregnancy was doing well so far. The doctor’s response to what he noticed, though, during the checkup worried her. She quickly discovered that her worries had been unfounded because the doctor had some urgent and unpleasant news.
“I’ll be right back, let me go get something, he promised. As soon as he turned around to go, I turned to JJ and told him that I had a bad feeling. He entered again with the nurse to perform another check. They exchanged glances before turning to face me. I can clearly recall feeling a lump in my throat right away. We have to leave right away to get this baby delivered by c-section, he stated “Powell disclosed.
Little Tripp had to “get out now,” as the infant’s pulse rate was critically low. Powell acknowledged that it was a terrible experience. In her essay, she said, “I remember still feeling Tripp kicking and not even caring if he had Down syndrome anymore I just wanted him to live.” Thankfully, Tripp the toddler lived.
“But I seem to recall asking, “Is he okay?” And at 10:55 a.m., right after I said that, I heard the purest, sweetest, and quietest cry I’ve ever heard. His cry was like a sound I had needed to hear for so long to know it would be okay, despite the fact that I have never sobbed with any of my babies (and I adore them all to death) “Powell went on.
One of the most prevalent chromosomal disorders in the world is Down syndrome. A 2010 study by the Department of Pediatrics in the Netherlands found that approximately 1 in 1,000 newborns globally have Down syndrome. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 700 babies born in the United States each year are affected by drown syndrome, according to the National Drown Syndrome Society (NDSS).
This genetic disorder’s precise cause is still unknown. As far as science is aware, Down syndrome is not an inherited condition. Only 1% of known cases have been passed down from a single parent, and almost all Down syndrome children are born to parents who have the typical number of chromosomes.
There is no doubt in the minds of scientists that a pregnant mother’s age influences the likelihood that her unborn child will have Down syndrome. A 35-year-old woman, according to the NDSS, has around a 1 in 350 chance of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome, while the likelihood increases progressively with a woman’s age, reaching 1 in 100 at the age of 40. The theoretical likelihood is 1 in 10 by the age of 49. The number of Down syndrome cases has increased over the past few years as more and more couples choose to have children later in life. Additionally, more and more painless screening during early pregnancy has been available.
Down syndrome is not an insurmountable issue, even though modern medicine cannot fix it. It causes physical and mental growth delays in newborns, causing them to develop more slowly than a healthy baby. There are many distinct possible symptoms and developmental phases because every child and case of Down syndrome is unique. Generally speaking, raising and educating children with trisomy 21 takes more time, but it is very much doable and valuable. 40% of children with Down syndrome who attend high school in the United States graduate or go on to complete their degrees. Many go on to have stable careers and live independently, but the majority still need assistance with money management.
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