Aitch: Why Down's syndrome awareness is so important
- Published
Aitch made a 15,000ft skydive in honour of his little sister Gracie
If you're a fan of Aitch, you'll know his sister Gracie.
His hit song My G, which features Ed Sheeran, is a dedication to her - and the 13-year-old recently joined him in the video for his latest single Round 2.
Gracie has Down's syndrome, and the rapper donated a portion of the My G video budget to the Down's Syndrome Association.
Now he's going a step further and has skydived to raise money and awareness.
Aitch was meant to do the skydive with his dad Mike, who came up with the idea, in March for Down's Syndrome Awareness week.
But when windy conditions postponed the jump, the rapper invited BBC Newsbeat along to the rearranged jump on Saturday.
And Aitch and his dad bravely completed their skydive at Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury, with Gracie and the rest of the rapper's family cheering them on.
He even convinced one of his management team, Via, to take the dive, too.
Aitch has had Gracie appear on stage and star in a music video
"I'm ten times less nervous than I was the first time it was cancelled," he said, speaking before he was about to take off.
Afterwards, he said it was "a million times worth it" - in fact, he enjoyed it so much he wants to "shoot a video in the air."
Down's syndrome is when you're born with an extra chromosome - and all people with Down's syndrome have some level of learning disability.
Aitch tells Newsbeat he's passionate about using his platform to raise awareness.
Via Culpan, Aitch, Mike and Gracie after the skydive
"I think it's important just because even when my sister was born, I didn't even know what Down's syndrome was if I'm honest with you," he says.
"I feel like people are quite funny about certain things, especially when it comes to having kids and finding out they've got disabilities - or even just people with disabilities not getting the same opportunity as everyone else."
The rapper says he wants to raise awareness "that it's not out of this world to have a family member or child with Down's syndrome, it doesn't mean that anything's any worse or anything like that".
"If anything, it's a little bit better," he says.
His favourite thing about his relationship with Gracie? "I tend to have the most genuine conversations with her over anyone else."
Niall says Aitch's platform gets the word out "further than anyone else can get to"
Also jumping was 21-year-old Niall Ede, for his younger brother Aidan, who also has Down's syndrome.
He says Aitch's platform makes all the difference for awareness.
"It's good to have someone that popular with that much of a following involved in it all, just because it reaches out so much further than anyone else can get to," Niall says.
After the jump, Gracie also had a chat with Newsbeat, and she said what her brother had done was "crazy" but "amazing."
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- Published1 February 2023
