11 Year Old Welles Inspires Carcone and His Family

An Instagram follow turned into a lifelong friendship for the Carcone family.

Every year, World Down Syndrome Day is a day of celebration for Oakley Peterson and her family.

“We have our son Welles, he’s 11, he has Down syndrome, it’s a beautiful and wonderful thing,” Peterson shared. “It’s something to be celebrated. World Down Syndrome Day is an opportunity for people to realize what a celebration it is to have something so unique as Down syndrome. It’s not a tragedy, it’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be celebrated.”

With a following of 128,000 followers on Instagram, Peterson has shared this message to many, giving the world a look into a close-knit family celebrating life. One of her followers is none other than Utah forward Michael Carcone’s wife, Mia.

“Oakley has a pretty impressive platform on social media and I followed her for years prior to moving to Utah,” Mia Carcone recounted. “I was actually a Welles fan prior to moving to Utah. So then when we moved here we figured out that we live in the same neighborhood and then from then we’ve grown to be great friends and it’s kind of turned into emergency school pick ups, playdates, late night chats, and watching hockey and just trading kids. It’s gone from an instagram follow of many years to now they’re some of our best friends.”

“Since they moved to Utah, we call them our little Canadian family,” Peterson smiled. “We have them over for Sunday dinners. They’re just our little family! And we love it.”

Now the Peterson’s celebrations include the Carcones. Since meeting in person, Michael Carcone and Welles have become close friends.

“We have a fun relationship,” Michael Carcone shared. “We try to keep it light. It’s just nice when you’re not at the rink to take your mind off things and you get somebody like that makes you smile.”

“The bond that Mike and Welles has is unique, it’s special,” Peterson explained. “Welles gravitates towards certain people, we say he picks his people, and he picked Mike right off the bat.

“They wrestle together and roughhouse and then Mike will sit and play Paw Patrol on the ground with him,” Peterson continued. “They have the most tender relationship. And when (Welles) came to his first hockey game, he just could not get over how exciting it was and seeing his person out on the ice like that took it to another level. Now he’s not only a Mike fan, he’s a hockey fan and they have the sweetest bond.”

Meeting Welles has expanded Mike’s understanding of Down syndrome, which in turn has made him an advocate.

“I focused my education in inclusion,” Mia shared. “I’ve always admired the community of exceptionalities. Mike was never really exposed to this community so now that Welles has come into Mike’s life, I’ve really seen the change.

“Welles has become a teacher to our family that we never knew we needed.”

To celebrate Welles and raise awareness about World Down Syndrome Day, Carcone had Welles join him for pre-game arrivals on Mar. 20. In addition, Utah Hockey Club players wore mismatched socks as they entered Delta Center, to show support.

“It’s huge,” Michael said about his teammates and their support. “It was awesome that (the team) hopped on board and a few of them got to meet Welles too before the game so that was exciting, and it really made his day.”

“It was really special,” Mia beamed. “You can see it in the video, Mike is really smiley. Mike really cherishes his time with Welles. They really gravitate towards one another. They can be crazy and they can be calm so I think for them to share something special and so unique, I think it just brings hope to a situation. I think come next year, it’s Mike’s hope that other guys want to participate and include other kids and extend their communities into people of other families and other types of organizations. It was really nice just to have an opportunity to highlight a growing need and bring some different inspiration from different places.”

“It made me so happy,” Peterson smiled. “It made me so happy because people look up to these guys. To see them be leaders and show other people, ‘hey we’re celebrating this,’ that’s really special and that’s important. So I love it.”

Less than a year after they met, Welles is now learning a new sport, hockey, thanks to his new best friend.

“Like any other 11 year old boy it’s fast-moving, it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s something for him to be a part of,” Peterson. “He’s going to learn how to skate, so we’ll just take it to the next level and I guess hockey is a big part of our life now.”

“They’re a big basketball and baseball family so for them to take it on and enjoy what I do, and think that I’m a special person it’s really important and huge for me,” Michael reflected. “It’s been great.”

“(Welles), at our house, will tell Mike to get outside and he’ll pull the hockey net out of our garage,” Mia shared. He’s in our laneway, and he’s shooting pucks with all the boys and he imitates Mike. They’re each other’s shadows.”

Although it’s fine Welles shadows Michael, Mia is hoping Welles doesn’t copy one part of Carcone’s game in particular.

“I get a bit fearful when Mike fights because I don’t want that to be the message,” Mia laughed. “He loves to imitate celebrations now after goals so if that’s the one thing we’re taking away then that’s a good thing to take away, but he definitely loves to mimic Mike.”