Shantell "Princess" Pooser got to experience a "dream come true" after American Airlines hired her to be its first flight attendant with special needs and a terminal illness, according to WISTV.
17-year-old Pooser has a lot of experience flying, having had to jet back-and-forth to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for treatment dozens of times while battling laryngomalacia, tracheomalacia and tracheobronchial malacia. These illnesses have caused more than 87 percent of the teen's air passages to be obstructed. Her doctors believe this obstruction is terminal. In addition, Pooser has Down syndrome.
“So far, we’ve been on over 57 [flights]. That’s including the connecting flights, as well, too,” Pooser's mother, Deanna Miller Berry, said.
With all that time in the air, it became Pooser's dream to become a flight attendant.
An American Airlines pilot decided to set up an airport party to mark the moment, and it became a big celebration — even Columbia, South Carolina's mayor, Steve Benjamin, attended!
Berry posted a video of her daughter's first day at work on Facebook Live:
“After the newest, recent scans, they were so scary to the point now where the doctors in Cincinnati say there’s nothing more that they can do for her. So, you just figure what can you do to make a difference,” the mom said.
The teen's first day of work comes just a few months after she graduated from eight grade, WRDW reports.
While Pooser actually graduated in 2016, she didn't get a chance to walk across the stage; instead, she spent her graduation day in the hospital, sedated, undergoing emergency surgery.
"This is what every parent looks forward to when it comes to their children in school and, you know, doctors said we'd never get this opportunity," Berry said.
When officials at the Bamberg County School System found out the teen had missed out on her big day, they invited her to walk with the class of 2018.
Berry said the reception her daughter got was overwhelming. "When the 8th-grade graduation class of 2018 realized that she was graduating with them, I mean the gym went into a total roar. The kids were just excited. Everybody knows her and everybody loves her."
Pooser has beaten the odds several times, with doctors pessimistic she'd make it to her 17th birthday. She has, however, and Berry said the two of them don't plan on giving up: they have plans of flying to Boston next year to see more specialists in hopes of repairing the teen's air passages.
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