When a brother had to choose a date for his high school’s winter formal, he decided to take his 10-year-old terminally-ill sister with him.
15-year-old AJ Spader wanted to do something special for his 10-year-old sister, Rebekah who was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome when she was 6 years old.
Myelodysplastic syndrome is a potentially terminal form of bone marrow cancer.
The family stopped the treatment after a bone marrow transplant was unsuccessful.
They decided to allow Rebekah to enjoy and do whatever she wanted with the little time she had left.
Her big brother AJ, a freshman at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, decided to take his terminally ill sister to his high school’s winter formal on Valentine’s Day.
“He’s thinking about his sister and she’s not going to get to go to the prom or the formal when she’s in high school because she’s probably not going to make it to high school, so he just wanted to give her that memory,” their father, Tony Spader, told the station KSFY.
“I wanted to ask my sister because she’s most likely not going to be able to experience high school. So I just thought, ‘Why not ask her to formal?’” AJ said.
AJ also took his sister Rebekah to dinner with his high school classmates and their dates.
“Her laugh is pretty great, It’s really fun to just be around her and just make memories. I want to spend as much time with her as possible while she’s still doing good,” AJ said.
The siblings enjoyed a lot and made beautiful memories. Unfortunately, Rebekah passed away on Aug. 4 the same year.