Girl with muscular dystrophy to model in Bristol Fashion Show
A nine-year-old girl with a rare form of muscular dystrophy is to appear at a fashion show.
Carmela, from Devizes in Wiltshire, will use a frame to walk the runway at the Bristol Fashion Show on Sunday.
A portion of the event's ticket sales will go to Cure4Carmela, a fund which raises money for research into muscle-wasting and weakening conditions.
Carmela, who has participated in the event twice before, said: "I would love to walk a catwalk every day."
When she was three years old, Carmela was diagnosed with LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy, a progressive muscle-wasting condition which affects her movement, heart and lungs.
Since her diagnosis in 2017, Carmela and her family have raised more than £400,000 for Muscular Dystrophy UK.
In October, she was presented with a British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour, in recognition of her positive impact on her community and wider society.
Carmela, who says she dreams of modelling, said: "Not to brag, but it's very easy for me - I don't get nervous."
On Sunday, she will be accompanied by her assistance dog, Tinker, who will be wearing an orange tutu.
"I'm hoping they will do some accessible designs," she added.
"If they do, I would like to just kind of express them and make sure that other people from three-year-olds to the elderly can have this accessible fashion."
Carmela, said her symptoms of the condition vary each day.
"Some days are hard and I can't do anything, some days are super easy and [I am] bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," she said.
"But then some of the days are kind of medium, sometimes it hurts and then it goes away.
"It does get a bit heavy but most of the time, I just carry on with it", she added.
Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk
