“I’ll ask you to prom when pigs fly!”
That’s what was written on a cardboard box housing a surprise for 16-year-old Ben Davis.
The student, who has special needs, was brought into the centre of a pep rally at Everett High School in Lansing, Mich., where he was about to be “promposed” to (i.e. asked to go to prom).
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Another student wielding scissors opened the box, releasing pink balloons shaped like pigs.
Davis breaks into a grin and is told to turn around. Behind him is a message from his friend Vee Nguyen: “PROM?”
He said yes.
Nguyen told the Detroit Free Press that she first met Davis in 2014 when she was working with a program that supports special needs students.
“I started talking to Ben and seeing him every day,” said Nguyen. “I’ve learned so much about special needs kids and people with disabilities.”
Davis has a rare condition that damages nerve cells in the brain.
Nguyen said she didn’t expect the promposal to gain so much attention (it’s had over three million views in less than a week), but hopes it will inspire more people to look past appearances.
“If everyone could look past the physical appearance every time they meet someone, the world would be a better place,” she said.