Kids Who've Overcome The Odds Have The Night Of Their Lives -- At MSG Prom
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Tuesday night was a big night for a very special group of kids.
They were being treated to a prom at Madison Square Garden, all as part of MSG's Garden of Dreams Foundation.
CBS 2's Jessica Schneider was there as those kids walked the red carpet.
The kids were getting the royal treatment on prom night.
"It's really amazing. I can't believe people are doing this all for us," said Alyssa Casson of Waterbury, Conn.
Casson is 14 years old and has been cancer-free for five years.
She spent Tuesday getting ready for the Garden of Dreams prom -- a special celebration for kids with disabilities, or those who are fighting life-threatening illnesses.
It was a chance for them to connect with others going through things kids should never have to.
"The hardest part was just to be a almost a teenager and going through that stage where looks were so important and it was important to fit in and have no hair and think 'why am I so different from everyone else?'" Casson said.
But at the Garden, she wasn't different.
"It's humbling, getting to meet all these kids, these stories, and knowing that there are other kids out there going through it," said Tyler Mejorado, who received a liver transplant three years ago.
Mejorado dressed in a suit that he got on shopping spree last month with New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
It was an all-day affair for the 52 kids, ages 12 to 18, who spent hours getting primped and prodded with hair and makeup, all before the big prom Tuesday night.
"I like the fact that we're doing events like this. It helps us with our social skills and helps us with our friendships and boosts our self-esteem," said Tyrese Alleyne-Davis of East New York.
Alleyne-Davis even got to meet former New York Knicks legend John Starks, just one of the perks kids who have already experienced so much.
"Not everyone has gone through what I've gone through and they're here and I'm talking to them right now," Mejorado said.
He was talking to fellow survivors, who could end up lifelong friends.
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