William “Wil” Lawrence is a special little boy with a magical ability: he can fly!
And it’s all thanks to his photographer dad, Alan, who first featured these photos on his blog: thatdadblog.com (Facebook | Instagram)
It’s not hard to see why these wonderful photos are going massively viral. Take a look.
A little help from his photographer dad Alan — plus a wee bit of Photoshop wizardry — turns Wil into a lean, mean, flying machine.
Utah-based Alan and his wife are parents to a rowdy bunch: five kids, with another one on the way. Wil, the youngest of the pack, was born with Down Syndrome, but his dad has concocted a beautiful plan to show Wil from an early age that the sky is his limit. Alan takes these Peter Pan-esque photos by holding Wil up, then editing himself out.
“These photos of Wil flying have taken on a special meaning for me as I think about the unique challenges Wil is going to face growing up.”
“I hope to teach him that even with his disabilities he can do anything he puts his mind to.”
“In the short 17 months since he has been with us he has helped our family grow in ways we didn’t realize we needed. We want to show the world that you can have a happy life with a child with Down Syndrome.”
“My wife was asking me why I was crying so much… and at that point she said what I needed to hear,” Alan said…
… “She told me that our son was going to be a huge blessing to our family.”
“[Wil] was going to help us grow in areas that we probably didn’t know we needed to.”
In the hopes of creating a “Wil Can Fly” calendar and, in the process, reach out to more people, Alan decided to start a project called “Bringing The Light,” which will be funded by a Kickstarter campaign. The goal of the project is to inspire and support other families who have children living with Down Syndrome, and what a worthy cause that is.