Alex Dallas: Teenager With Cancer Can’t Go To Prom Because She Missed Too Much School
A British teenager is being denied the opportunity to go to her school’s prom because she missed too much school. However, she has a pretty good reason for her absences: she has cancer. Unfortunately, her school is not budging on the rules, the Independent is reporting.
Alex Dallas, 16, has been battling cancer since the age of 4. Now a young lady, her body is showing the signs of a decade of radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Her growth has been stunted; she stands at a mere four feet, five inches tall. She’s also developed kidney disease and osteoporosis.
And, this year, she developed a tumor in her head. Alex and her mother both wanted the tumor gone before prom pictures, so she (mom) scheduled a life-threatening operation to remove the rumor for December of last year, rather than in the summer like her doctors wanted.
Meanwhile, her family began spending money to prepare for the young lady’s once-in-a-lifetime experience. Her mom spent £380 ($491) on a hand-made pink lace dress and £60 ($77) on shoes. Her grandmother had set aside £100 ($129) for a hair-and-makeup makeover.
Alex knew that her attendance would be a problem for prom, but she tried to get a jump on her studies by completing a homeschooling course while she was convalescing.
@JohnBishop100 you’re a former pupil of this college right?.. Did you read this story? https://t.co/3y8Clo2DFr #alexdallas
— QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (@Jasminelennard) July 3, 2017
However, that wasn’t enough for her school, Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy in Runcorn, Cheshire. School officials wanted Alex to come to school for an hour each day for a two-week period before prom, for an “assessment.”
“We wanted to make sure attending the event was in the best interest of this student, and indeed her fellow students.”
When Alex failed to make it to school on any of the days during her assessment period, the school made the decision to deny her the chance to attend prom.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210128858878794&set=a.1608746539383.2081072.1257786754&type=3&permPage=1
Alex’s mom, Sam Mattison, is outraged. In an open letter to her daughter’s school, she demanded an apology.
“SHAME ON YOU. This is a little girl that has courageously battle cancer for over a decade, since the age of four she’s been undergoing hospital treatments and operations and fighting for her life.”
Besides an apology, Mattison also wants a refund for the money she spent on Alex’ prom outfit.
The quintessential American tradition of prom was generally not a thing in the U.K. until relatively recently. As the Telegraph reported in 2012, however, some 85 percent of British schools (as of the time of that writing) had embraced prom for their Grade 11 and graduating students.
[Featured Image by BVDC/Shutterstock]
