Ever since Shannon Purcifer was a little girl, she's struggled with a number of serious health problems.
The high school student suffers from bowel disease, ulcerative colitis and arthritis, which is a lot for a 16-year-old girl to deal with while preparing for exams and getting ready for college, but cruel bullies at Shannon's school were adding even more stress to her life.
For more than a year Shannon has been the target of what her mother Claire Carstens calls "horrendous" bullying. Shannon has even had to change her phone number to avoid getting hateful calls and messages every day.
Even a trip to speak with teachers at her daughter's school could't stop the bullies from teasing and picking on her, all because of her health conditions. "I just felt lost really," Carstens says. "There was nothing I could do but let her talk to me."
The bullying was so bad that Shannon actually decided to skip her own prom night, worried that she would be targeted at the event by other kids. "She agonized over it for a while but we knew maybe two months beforehand that her heart wasn't in it," her mom says. "She'd had enough."
Shannon stayed home that night, but her mother shared a photo of her wearing the $600 dress she'd bought on Facebook with a heartfelt message. Once Shannon's community saw that post, they decided to make things right.
Find out why a gang of bikers came to Shannon's rescue on the next page!
"If Shannon had gone to prom tonight she would of worn this beautiful dress," her mother's Facebook post read. "For a girl that has had so much to deal with in life....coeliac disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis, she is one strong young lady with an even stronger mind!"
Friends and family who read the post agreed, and soon even strangers had discovered Shannon's story and wanted to do something to help. Shannon's real friends organized a special prom night for her, and this time none of her bullies were invited.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was started to cover the cost of Shannon's special prom. Strangers offered to do Shannon's makeup and style her hair for free, there was a buffet of donated food and a fully decorated gym, but the most impressive touch was Shannon's ride to the event.
More than 120 bikers from the local Gosport Scooter Club showed up in full force to escort Shannon to the dance, letting her pose on their bikes before riding to the gym in style on a 3-wheeled bike.
Thanks to everyone who made her replacement prom special, Shannon was able to enjoy herself without fear again. "It was so overwhelming the whole day," Shannon told Inside Edition. "I didn't think that people could be that nice because of how horrible people had been."
Share this uplifting story if you hate bullying!
[H/T: The Sun]