Meet the US’ first professional Santa with Down syndrome

Bradley Carlisle, a 37-year-old community theatre actor from suburban Atlanta, has become the first professional Santa Claus in the US with Down syndrome. He was also inducted as an honorary member of the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame after completing one of the largest Christmas performer schools in the US in late August. From fearing Santa Claus to embodying him is less a redemption arc and more a reminder about who gets to see themselves in the stories we tell!He feared Santa as a childBradley Carlisle spent most of his childhood terrified of Santa Claus, according to his mother, Debbie Chadrix, The Guardian reported. He feared St Nick’s white gloves and equated them with the gloves worn by healthcare workers. The medical experiences were difficult for him, and white gloves only meant pain. So when Christmas came around, there was no sitting on Santa's lap, no whispered wishes, no magic.It started in 2023 when Carlisle's mother attended a holiday party thrown by the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta (DSAA). That’s when the organisation's executive director pulled her aside and said, “We need a Santa with Down syndrome who looks like the kids.”The group’s leader wante...