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Classmates help with special homecoming proposal for teens with cerebral palsy

Posted at 4:52 PM, Sep 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-19 20:50:33-04

It is that time of year where high school students across Oregon and Washington are getting butterflies about who they’re going to ask to the Homecoming Dance.

Two Vancouver families never thought they’d see their kids headed off to the dance.

Gabbie Shell and Paul Pedersen are students at Mountain View High School in Vancouver. Both have Cerebral Palsy, the disease keeps them confined to a wheel chair and limits their ability to talk.

So going to a homecoming dance may seem out of the picture for some.

“It’s just something you don’t ever think is going to happen,” Gabbie’s mother Sarah Shell said.

On Friday, students at staff at the high school helped Paul ask Gabbie to the dance. He had a sign and flowers for her.

“Those are experiences that you don’t ever think you are going to have with children like Gabbie and Paul.” Shell said. “So it has been very happy and emotional at the same time.”

“We’re already talking about, you know, her going dress shopping, boutonnieres and corsage,” Paul’s mom Amber Pedersen said.

For the high school sweethearts, they’re showing so many they’re not letting a disease hold them back from having a little fun and dance the night away.

“It’s a dream come true,” Pedersen said.

The families are working on plans on how to get the two a limo for the dance and other things that go along with the Homecoming night.