Sock selfie to raise awareness of Down syndrome

This affects approximately one in four hundred pregnancies. Down syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality that affects 27,000 newborns every year. There is an issue to raise public awareness: the use of mismatched socks to encourage diversity and difference. Accessible to all, this challenge allows for inclusive mobilization. Céline Pannier, a nanny from Chartres (Eure-et-Loire) who has been caring for a child with Down syndrome for eight years, goes a little further by collecting selfies of your feet. “This is a challenge that is close to my heart because Timothy brings me so much every day, he is a ray of sunshine, he is a big favorite of ours. »

5126 photographs collected in 2023.

Every year the task grows. The first year the game was played only by friends and family, so about twenty photos. In 2022, that number reached 3,315 photos, and the record was broken in 2023 with 5,126 photos. “We see a certain variety in socks,” the nanny laughs. There are some very funny ones. I edit at the end. » Thanks to social media, his challenge spread. His photographs even come “from abroad, from Africa or Canada. That’s the goal: to get people talking about this disability, because people are still afraid of it.”

A challenge without coercion and for fun, like the relationship between the nanny and this nine-year-old boy. Timothée still spends several Wednesdays a month with Celine. One of their rituals is to take “funny” photos, especially of socks. “As soon as I tell him, come, let’s take a photo, he jumps on my lap, it amuses us,” says Celine Pannier. You can also give in to this wonderful habit by sending your different feet to [email protected]. You have until 11:59 pm on March 21st to submit your photos.