Woman with Down’s Syndrome fulfills her dream of presenting the weather and wins everyone’s hearts

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by Emma Dodds |
Published on

Mélanie Ségard, 21, fulfilled her dream of presenting the weather live on French national television

We all get bogged down by the news. Especially when something particularly terrible is happening - which can sometimes feel relentless.

But sometimes, people can really restore your faith in humanity and remind us all that there are good people out there.

And that's what happened to Mélanie Ségard.

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Mélanie fulfilled her lifelong dream of presenting the weather (Credit: YouTube/ MinuteTivi - Votre minute TV) ©YouTube/ MinuteTivi - Votre minute TV

Thanks to a Facebook campaign entitled Mélanie Peut Le Faire (translates to "Mélanie can do it" in English), the 21-year-old has had her lifelong dream come true.

Campaigners from French charity Unapei set up the Facebook page with the aim of reaching 100,000 likes, at which point they would ask France 2 - one of the biggest channels in the country - to take Mélanie on for a few days.

The page vastly surpassed their target, currently boasting 255,172 fans.

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A Facebook campaign by French charity Unapei helped Mélanie achieve her goal (Credit: Facebook/ Mélanie peut le faire) ©Facebook/ Mélanie peut le faire

But thanks to everyone who got involved, Mélanie received four days of training at France 2, and presented the weather last week alongside regular presenter Anais Baydemir who helped her.

The two even had a high five once the slot was finished.

Speaking to French newspaper Le Parisien, Mélanie, who currently works in a packaging company, said: "I'm different, but I'd like to show everyone that I can do a lot of things.

"My dream was to show people the weather. And this can open doors to other people with disabilities."

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Mélanie and Anais shared a high five at the end of the segment (Credit: YouTube/ MinuteTivi - Votre minute TV) ©YouTube/ MinuteTivi - Votre minute TV

Nathalie Rihouet, who is head of weather service at France Televisions, told them: "Melanie cannot read or write. The goal is to make her feel integrated."

President of Unapei Luc Gateau spoke to La Croix newspaper, saying: "Symbolically, it's very strong that a young woman with an intellectual disability can come before millions of French people to do something that is close to her heart.

"This shows that these people have abilities."

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Mélanie with Unapei President Luc Gateau and French journalist Thomas Sotto (Credit: Facebook/ Mélanie peut le faire) ©Facebook/ Mélanie peut le faire

You go, Mélanie!

Do you or a loved one have a child with Down's Syndrome? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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