Seven-year-old with inoperable brain tumor crowned homecoming queen
An Ohio high school has embraced a young girl with terminal cancer and has made her one of their own.
Reagan Scacchetti, 7, was crowned homecoming queen at Waynesville High School near Dayton Friday evening.
Scacchetti's cousin, Anthony Carmichael, is the quarterback for the Waynesville Spartans and wanted to make the night special for her and the entire family.
"It means a lot to my family, because this is something we'll never be able to experience in high school for her, so it's really cool to have her out here with all of us and be the queen," Carmichael said.
Scacchetti was diagnosed with the tumor five years ago. Her parents, Ray and Becca Scacchetti, have tried several treatments but ultimately have been told they are out of lifesaving options.
"It originates in her hypothalamus, so that makes it extremely difficult. It's actually very rare in children. You can't take out your hypothalamus, so surgery was never really an option," Becca Scacchetti said.
"There's no treatments left at this point, so we're left at the stage where we have to allow this to take its course and just pray for mercy, just pray for more time," Ray Scacchetti said.
For the last nine months, Reagan has lived at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center. She got a special exception from her doctors to leave the hospital and go to the football game to see her cousin and join the homecoming court.
"It's amazing to know that the whole community is behind us in what she has to go through, in supporting everything, so it's just nice to know that everyone is here for us," Carmichael said.
"The community has really rallied around us. They've done several events here during football just to honor her, and the kids wear Team Reagan bracelets and they got purple T-shirts. They just have embraced us into this community," Becca Scacchetti said.