A magical night for a little princess with cancer


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SOUTH JORDAN — Like most girls her age, 6-year-old Simone Bird loves princesses. Her favorites are Cinderella and Elsa. But unlike most girls, Simone has cancer. To help her feel like she's not alone in her battle, some teens in her neighborhood threw her a party of royal proportion. It was a surprise meant to let her know she is loved.

Tara Matagi, Young Women's president of the Daybreak 6th Ward said, "Everyone just loves her. It's neat to see the girls reach out with the compassion that they have, and to reach out to let Simone know that she is special."

Simone has been battling cancer since before she can remember. As an infant she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, a grade 2, step 4 astrocytoma. It's in the middle of her brain, so removing it isn't an option. For five years now, doctors have been monitoring it, doing MRIs ever three to six months, and until recently the tumor had stayed the same size, but now it's growing. Her mom, Jana Bird, said, "Right now she's on chemotherapy. She had a port placed in October for this type of chemo and she has been on it two rounds now. She's been doing pretty well with it, but she gets sick."

The young women in her LDS ward wanted to help her feel better, that's why they decided to throw the party. Kimberly Dean, their Young Women's leader, said, "They planned and prepared and created this great atmosphere and invited all the 5-year-old girls in the neighborhood to celebrate and have this great night for Simone."

Many of the girls who helped with the party didn't know Simone personally. They did it to show her support. Matagi said, "I love that the girls are doing this without any reward in return. They won't get a prize or a goody bag, they are not going to have a big huge pat on the back. They are doing it because they want to make Simone feel good, and I think that is awesome."

(Photo: Alan Neves/KSL-TV)
(Photo: Alan Neves/KSL-TV)

It was a magical evening fit for royalty. As Simone danced and played the night away with her friends, the spunky little red-haired girl loved every minute of it. For a few short hours, her cancer was forgotten and she was a real princess. Her mom said, "This will be probably the best memory she's had since Disneyland. It's just amazing to me that people want to do these kinds of things for us."

Her mom keeps a blog about her at: My Pretty Pink Princess

(Photo: Alan Neves/KSL-TV)
(Photo: Alan Neves/KSL-TV)

Contributing: Carole Mikita


Angie Denison is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is an executive producer over special projects at KSL TV. Contact her at adenison@ksl.com.

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