Neighbours throw surprise prom for teenager with cerebral palsy

‘She cried when she arrived,’ 16-year-old’s mother says

(Sarah Stroud/PA Wire)

A teenager with cerebral palsy and epilepsy was beside herself with happiness when her friends and neighbours threw her a surprise socially-distanced prom celebration.

Stacie Stroud, a 16-year-old from Andover, Hampshire, was “devastated” when she discovered her prom had been cancelled, which would have marked the end of her final year at school.

To lift the teenager’s spirits, her community rallied together to give her a celebration she wouldn’t forget, organising a special street prom instead.

In preparation for the evening on Friday 26 June, Stacie’s neighbours and father, Steve Stroud, decorated the street with balloons and fairy lights.

Stacie had no idea of the mass operation being undertaken in her honour, spending the day inside with her 19-year-old sister Samantha.

(Sarah Stroud/PA Wire (Sarah Stroud/PA Wire)

After Samantha did Stacie’s hair and make-up, she was picked up by her grandfather in his yellow van, the vehicle that would have taken her to her original prom.

Her grandfather drove her around for an hour before returning, at which point the street had been transformed and a crowd was waiting to cheer her on.

Stacie’s mother, Sarah Stroud, told the PA news agency that everyone spent the day cleaning and decorating.

“We had a photo prop area, and there was hand sanitiser everywhere so people could clean up before and after,” she said. “We had a bit of a socially-distanced disco in the evening.”

(Sarah Stroud/PA Wire (Sarah Stroud/PA Wire)

Sarah added that Stacie was very emotional when she made her entrance, stating: “She cried when she arrived.”

“Stacie spent the evening dancing around in her wheelchair. She took some photos and had a chat with the neighbours,” she said.

“She’s always quite bubbly and chatty with people she knows quite well, like the neighbours. They treat her like they would anyone else, which is what she wants.”

Stacie’s head of year from school also made an appearance at the event, wearing a tuxedo in honour of the “emotional evening”.

(PA (PA)

Following her final year at school, Stacie plans on studying hospitality and catering at college in the hopes of becoming a chef.

Her mother explained that not having to do her school exams during the coronavirus pandemic has been a comfort to the teenager.

“She was originally quite stressed about doing GCSEs,” she said.

“Last year during the mock exams she got quite stressed and had a seizure, so not doing them, she relaxed a bit more knowing she didn’t have to do that.”