Model arranges surprise photoshoot for sister with Down's syndrome

She cried with happiness

(YouTube)

A 29-year-old model surprised his older sister, who has Down's syndrome, by organising a professional photoshoot for her.

Brittany Garafola, 32, had told her brother Chris that she wanted to be a model like him.

Chris, who has 49,000 followers on Instagram, has fronted campaigns for Puma and New Balance and recently starred in a Falabella campaign alongside Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

Brittany and Chris grew up together in Vermont and have always been incredibly close.

She regularly features on her brother’s Instagram feed and is a huge hit amongst his followers.

Her condition subjected her to a string of open heart surgeries as a child, putting a substantial financial strain on her family.

However, Chris insists that this brought them closer together.

Even as children, Brittany hugely admired her brother and always wanted to do whatever he was doing.

“Whether it was going to the movies to watch the latest blockbuster or wearing a new pair of Chuck Taylors — Brittany wanted the same opportunities,” he said.

Chris was signed to a modelling agency by the age of 25 and it wasn’t long until Brittany began aspiring to model just like him.

It was after he showed her a photograph of himself in a magazine that Brittany told him she wanted to be a fashion model too.

Chris arranged the photoshoot in Boston, where the siblings now live, in collaboration with HIVE. Studio.

When Brittany arrived at the shoot and realised what was going on, she cried with happiness.

“Brittany has shown me everything from feeling beautiful and confident in my own skin, to how to love unconditionally,” he told Mail Online.

"I am who I am today entirely because of my sister."