Family Matters
REMEMBERING OUR EXTRAORDINARY SOPHIA Sophia Antognazza Hotson lived with pulmonary hypertension and Down’s Syndrome, and amazed her family every day with her patience and courage. Her parents, Rosa and Howard Hotson, wrote to Emphasis to share this moving tribute to their daughter.
O
ur precious and beautiful daughter, Sophia, died peacefully at home on 7 March 2018, surrounded by the love of her family. She was born on 31 May 1999 with Down’s Syndrome and severe primary pulmonary hypertension. She bore her difficulties with amazing courage and astonishing resilience far longer than anyone thought possible, until her condition suddenly took a turn for the worse on Monday 5 March. In trying to summarise in a few words the brief life of our daughter, the word which keeps reasserting itself is ‘extraordinary’. This may seem a trivial observation of someone whose limitations and difficulties kept her outside the norm, but in Sophia’s case disabilities were coupled with extraordinary gifts and abilities, way beyond the capacity of ordinary people. Continued overleaf >>>
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Even though every day was a struggle for her, she never stopped smiling.
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Our final family photo
WINTER 2018 emphasis 35
