“I would be broken if you weren't my sister because you taught me how to be brave and I'd be blessed if you went to formal with me,” teenager AJ Spader told his 10-year old sister Rebekah.
Life hasn't been easy for brave Rebekah. She was born with HSAN, a disorder which attacks her nervous system, and then when she was six, she was tragically diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a cancer of the bone marrow.
So because he knew she wouldn’t get to experience the teenage rite of passage, her big brother asked her to be his date to the prom. And vivacious and bright Rebekah got the full works: a beautiful prom dress, a corsage and even a tiara!
“Her laugh is pretty great and absolutely fun to just be around her and make memories because I wanna spend as much time with her as possible while she’s still doing good,” AJ told ABC News.
And, naturally, her parents were thrilled to see her attend prom.
“It’s fun to watch her live part of life where the disease doesn’t creep in, where she is just excited to be going and doing something that every teenager gets to do,” her dad said poignantly.
“There’s a lot of time that’s it’s a joyful moment but yeah there’s a little sorrow because you know this probably one of the last opportunities shell have to do something like this.
“He’s thinking about his sister and she’s not gonna get to go to the prom when she in high school cos she’s not going to make it, and he just wanted to give her that memory of doing something every child or teenager gets to do.”
How wonderfully spirited is Rebekah? (and yes, her laugh IS pretty great!) And what a special relationship she shares with her amazing big brother. We can see that they are both incredibly lucky to have one another.
