A Huddersfield DJ with Down’s Syndrome is this weekend starring on a BBC programme.
Casey Rochell, 24, of Meltham , is on Amazing Humans which has just gone live on the online BBC3 channel.
He is also on the programme’s Facebook page too.
He was approached by the BBC to profile him after he appeared in a Mencap TV advert.
Casey is blazing a trail for other disabled people to break into the entertainment industry.
His mentor John Johnson, a 30-year veteran of the UK DJing scene, says Casey is wowing everyone with his poise and professionalism, proving that having a disability is no barrier to entertaining the masses.
Last year he did a live set for 3,000 revellers in Cambridge.
“Casey delivers content in the same way as anyone else would,” said John, 46, who lives in Longwood .
“At Cambridge people were just amazed at his DJing. He wasn’t a DJ with Down’s Syndrome; he was just being himself.
“Now I want him to get around the country. He’s an example of what people can do: a lad from Huddersfield who came to the school of DJing and discovered a talent. Cambridge was a colossal gig and he just owned it.”
Casey was the face of Mencap’s ‘Here I Am’ campaign last year, starring in a video that was launched at the House of Commons.
Mum Jacqui Rochell, 52, saw Casey in action in Cambridge and was so emotional she could barely speak.
“I was so proud I could have cried,” she said.
“I felt overwhelmed for him. As a baby you tend to focus on the negatives. I never knew what he could achieve. He’s always been polite and sociable but now he’s focused and a perfectionist about the work. Everyone treats him normally. The more normal you treat him the better he reacts.”
John added: “Casey is a perfect example of what someone can achieve. He’s never too exuberant, he always delivers content on cue and he never gets above himself. I would give him 10 out of 10 for his behaviour and attitude.”
