Tearjerking moment bald girl battling cancer learned about her friend's action before prom

Alyssa White and Ashley Smith met at Pine View Farm Fun near Littlestown. At the time Smith was White’s summer camp counselor.

After finding out that the teenager had cancer, Smith decided to cut and donate her hair. The donation would be just in time for White’s school prom.

Alyssa White, 16, is a Fairfield Area High School student who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January. The chemotherapy treatment subsequently made her hair fall out.

Ashley Smith, 29, was her summer camp counselor who became friends with her. When she heard about White’s coming prom and her hair loss, she wanted to help.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Smith hadn’t cut her hair significantly since elementary school.

She’d promised herself that she’d only cut her hair if someone else really needed it. Knowing White needed it, she had 24 inches cut off at The Spa on West Main in Westminster on March 14.

Smith then raised more than $2,300 to have a wig made out of the hair and made sure it would be ready for White’s prom. Meeting with the teenager, Smith, who now had a new haircut, surprised White about the campaign she had started in February.

She presented White with an oversized card with the message, “You’re one tough cookie, and we all have your back.” The card was signed by the teenager’s friends who donated to the YouCaring campaign.

Through tears she revealed to White:

“I cut my hair, and I sent it away. And all these people have helped me raise money to have a wig made for you in time for prom.”

White was touched by the gesture and had this to say:

“I loved my hair. The hardest part for me was losing it. So knowing that she did that, she did this for me, is really, really special.”

The salon owner heard about Smith's gift and added her own donation by allowing White to pick out a prom dress at her boutique for free.

This month in Missouri the Stray Rescue animal rescue shelter received a letter from Crystal Chrisp, 46, who informed them that she was losing her battle with cancer and asked them to find a new home for her dog, Shell who was left with the note. Police were dispatched the next day to a burning apartment in the St Louis suburb of Affton where they found Chrisp’s body.

She’d shot herself in the head and the fire was being investigated.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.