Virginia Beach Neighborhood Throws “Garage Prom” For Teen in Cancer Remission
When Victoria Ali was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 15, it wasn’t just her health that suffered-her social life also took a serious hit.
Victoria is now in remission, but the effects of her battle with Medulloblastoma (a kind of fast-growing brain tumor) linger. The Virginia Beach teen is home-schooled now, which means she’s had to miss out on a lot of the little things associated with a typical adolescence, like prom, for example.
So you can imagine her excitement when her best friend, who now lives in Texas, called her up and invited her to her prom. "It's kind of sad for her, seeing her friends graduate and go to prom, so it was really a special time for her to call and invite her," Victoria's mom, Patricia, tells WTKR.
Unfortunately, the universe had other plans, and severe weather canceled her flight to Texas not once, but twice. Ultimately, Victoria was forced to cancel her trip. "I felt really upset, sad, a little angry," says Victoria. "Then I realized my life is already planned out, if God wants it to happen it’ll happen."
When Patricia told their neighbor, Carly Vega, about the situation, she came up with an unexpected solution. She suggested they have their own prom in their garage.
A short Facebook post got things moving quickly. Soon, friends were volunteering everything from decorations and photography to hair and makeup. In the end, neighbors, church friends, and some of Victoria's friends all came out for the "garage prom."
It wasn’t exactly the prom she imagined, but Victoria says it was perfect.
"I felt loved, I felt humbled to know that so many people cared and they were just doing it for me because they loved me,” she says.
