Strangers rally behind teen bullied over prom dress

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WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. — Kristen Layne, a high school senior in Tennessee, decided to use a little business savvy by selling last year’s prom dress online to help raise money for a new dress.

This was a sacrifice for Layne, who immediately fell in love with her blue ball gown she wore to her junior prom.

"I said, 'That's mine. That's going to be mine," Layne told wsmv.com in January.

In order to have money for a dress for her senior prom, she decided to post her dress on a Facebook group where people can advertise products for sale. She started a GoFundMe page for the dress and posted it for $350. But instead of getting offers, two men decided to start making fun of Layne for her weight and looks.

“The comments made me feel horrible about myself,” she told Yahoo this week. “But the bullies aren’t my concern right now.”

Despite feeling hurt, she politely asked the men to stop. Layne was shocked when just 10 minutes after the men started commenting on her photo, strangers started firing back, telling Layne she was "beautiful" and "stunning."

Instead of getting an offer for her dress, people started donating money to her GoFundMe account, which has now garnered over $6,200 in the past two months. When the money started pouring in, Layne already knew how she would spend part of it — on an amazing prom dress for her friend.

“I bought one of my friends her senior prom dress, because she didn't have the money to buy the one of her dreams, so I went and bought it for her,” Layne posted on her GoFundMe page on Wednesday. “Again thank you guys, I helped 2 young ladies have a wonderful prom.”

Layne told Yahoo that she will be attending her senior prom on April 18 and can’t wait to show off her new dress.

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Tracie Snowder

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