Nina was born with Down syndrome. With unconditional love and support by her family, today, Nina is training teachers how to deal with children with disabilities.
From the first days Nina was born, the doctors suspected that she was a kid with Down syndrome. At the time, little did her parents know that their baby would grow into a happy girl, who would love them unconditionally.
Even though at the beginning most people thought that Nina’s best accomplishment would be to work as a hairdresser, she surprised everyone positively. She went to higher education and today she is a graduate of the University of Skopje with studies in the Macedonian language and literature. Currently, she works in the Central State Library in Skopje and is training teachers and professors how to deal with children with disabilities.
Nina gives her own side of the story. “My name is Nina Kostovska, I am 26 years old and I have a little more luck than the others in my family because I have one chromosome more than them, a total of 47”.
“My parents wanted to try an old medicine. Instead of writing me off, they enrolled me in regular school. I was getting medicine regularly and it worked. It had to be taken every day, and I got it all eight years in elementary and four years in high school. My mother, father and brother never missed a day to give it to me”.
“Sometimes they gave me medicine every hour, sometimes every minute. And here I am, in the fourth year of college. Without that medicine everything is lost. Without it I am decrepit. It is the same medicine, Pepe, the President of Uruguay, used on his three-legged dog. It is the same medicine the parents of Nik Vujicic, the man with no arms or legs, used on him. It is the same medicine Mother Teresa used on lepers”.
“My father was a pharmacist, and my mother is a psychologist. Together, they created a drug that consists of unconditional love and unconditional support. It’s so simple, but not inconceivable, but it is very effective. Even if the whole world tells you that your child is done for, never write them off, they will catch up”.
The interview was conducted in 2019. The same year, Tamara Todevska, a famous singer in the country, who represented North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, surprised Nina by singing to her at her home. Watch the video here.
Klea was diagnosed at 5 weeks of age with Homocystinuria, a disorder affecting less than 200 people in the world.
Claire was diagnosed with PKU at birth. Three years later, Claire’s brother, Seth, was also diagnosed with the same condition.
Elise was three months old when she was diagnosed with two congenital diseases: Jacobsen Syndrome and Paris-Trousseau Syndrome.
Sophia was nine months when diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 1. SMA is a progressive condition that leads to loss of movement and muscle wasting.
Tom was four when he was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is caused by a defective gene for Dystrophin, a protein in the muscles. Due to the way the disorder is inherited, the condition primarily affects boys and rarely girls.
Dylan was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with MDP syndrome. Later on, in adolescence, he was also diagnosed with autism.
Areti is a 28-year-old young woman suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 2, a severe neurological disease that leads to gradual weakness and atrophy of the muscles, which destroys the patient’s motor skills.
Anastasia was in an artificial coma for 32 days, before she woke up. That made her the first greek woman with Cystic fibrosis who woke up from a coma and the first ever person who woke up after such a long coma, globally.
Suzie Birchwood is a dancer, choreographer and the artistic director of arc dance. Suzie has Dystonia and is a wheelchair user. She trained in ballet and contemporary.
Chloé Temtchine is an award-winning singer, songwriter and speaker, who was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension and Pulmonary Veno Occlusive Disease (PVOD)
Baby Fitz was born with a dysfunctioning immune system. His treatment offers hope for curing rare diseases.
Anestis and Dimitris were two brothers who had Klinefelter syndrome. As they were never diagnosed, they had to endure the prejudice of their neighbours in a small village, nearly 40 years ago.
