By Mark Ellis —
They met when they were only three-years-old, but developed eyes for each other romantically in the last six months. Recently, this beautiful couple with Down Syndrome were honored by their peers when they were voted prom king and queen.
Dylan Hughes and Amelie Barker, both 16, were thrilled by the news at Monmouth Comprehensive’s end-of year dance near Gloucester, England, according to the BBC.
“She was really, really pleased – she was beaming,” Amelie’s mother, Katharina, told the BBC. Katharina said the two plan to get married in the future.
The romance took a while to develop, but suddenly a spark of interest developed. “As teenagers do, they start looking at each other with different eyes and added interest,” Katharina said.
“It has very much been driven by the two of them – they told us they were boyfriend and girlfriend and that they want to get married eventually. It’s all been planned out.”
Dylan is a sports enthusiast who has competed in the Down Syndrome Swimming World Championships in Canada and would like to be a PE teacher or play rugby for Wales.
Amelie will be starting a course in childcare at Gwent College in Newport in September.
She attended the dance in a lovely floral prom dress and Dylan in an impeccable tuxedo. “She very much likes to work with children — she has a real knack for it,” her mother told the BBC.
Part of the back-story behind their romance began when their mothers met 10 years ago and decided to launch a charity known as 21 Plus, to offer support for families who have children with Down syndrome.
