2023-09-19 18:04:27
King Philippe and Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden met on Tuesday followingnoon many everyday heroes named by Be Heroes. For the fourth year in a row, the civil movement allowed citizens to vote for a person who performed a small heroic act. From all the stories submitted to the initiative’s website, 50 heroes were selected to participate in the National Day ceremony on July 21. Twelve of them had the opportunity to tell their story to the King. Lilith Appeltans is among those elected.
WATCH: King Philippe meets the 12 people nominated by the Be Heroes movement
Lilith Appeltans, a 14-year-old from West Flanders whose brother Ernest has Down syndrome (trisomy 21) and has difficulty speaking, has made videos to teach her peers regarding SMOG (Spreken Met Ondersteuning van Gebaren, Editor’s note) .
The 14-year-old girl hated not being able to chat with her little brother. She therefore decided to learn sign language herself so that she might later pass it on. “Since I learned how to speak sign language, our bond has become much stronger. We also wanted to teach it to other children,” she testified.
Lilith has already posted nearly 400 gestures on her online site, created five years ago. It affects hundreds of families, schools and institutions every day. “There are 500 basic gestures and we intend to make videos for each of them,” she said. “I taught the King a phrase: ‘I am happy to see you,’ and he repeated it to me in sign language.”
“The silent people are the real strength of our society, the people we never see, I personally think these are the most beautiful stories of Be Heroes,” said Joke De Nul of the civil movement.
© Photo News
© BELGA
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