The Art of Survival Statistically speaking, Irene Pinole should have been dead by the age of 10. Against the longest of odds for a child with Down syndrome born in 1928, Irene grew up and grew old. Now she is 76, ranking her among the oldest Down survivors on record. Today the life expectancy of someone with Down syndrome has rise to 56 years old, a number she passed 20 years ago. Ripped from her family at 10, and put into mental institutions for 32 years, Irene lost all contact with her family. They were told she was dead. She has lived in group homes for the last 20 years, where she began to thrive when she was enrolled in a fine arts program for the disabled. Five days a week for the past two decades, Irene has made art, something she loves. After reading IreneÕs story in the Bee, her sister, Olga, learned that she was alive, and they reunited after 65 years apart.

Anne Chadwick Williams, Sacramento Bee