Bullied teen invited to prom by parents whose daughter took her own life

A teen who left her prom night in tears after bullies threw juice over her has been invited to a ball in honour of a young girl who accidentally took her own life.

The viral story of Emilee Perry, 16, touched hearts across the world after mum Tracey shared images of her daughter sobbing in the soaked dress after picking her up.

Emilee, who suffers with severe anxiety, had been convinced by her parents to go to the prom and enjoy the night with school friends.

The family had spent hundreds on getting her dress, hair and make up done for the night, only for her efforts to be ruined just two hours later, when a ‘friend’ poured a jug of cherryade over her head.

Emilee, from Doncaster, left the night in tears after around 100 classmates witnessed the incident, before calling her mum to take her home.

But now a kind-hearted family from the same town, who lost their teenage daughter last year, have invited Emilee to their charity ball to give the teen a second chance at having a prom night.

Summer’s Charity Ball is being held in memory of 15-year-old Summer Neylan, who tragically died of misadventure on September 22, last year.

Emilee told Metro.co.uk she couldn’t wait for the ball and was looking forward to paying her respects to Summer.

‘I feel privileged to be invited to such a wonderful event for an inspirational girl,’ said Emilee.

‘It makes me feel joyed to be able to get dressed up and almost recreate what was supposed to be a special occasion and be given another opportunity to have a wonderful night.’

The family are holding the charity event in memory of Summer, also from Doncaster, to raise funds for PAPYRUS – a young suicide prevention charity.

Summer’s auntie, Cassie Bell, invited Emilee to the memorial ball after seeing the teen’s heartbreaking story on Facebook and hopes it’ll give her ‘something to look forward to’.

Cassie said: ‘I just thought how gutting would that have been, going to all that effort and for someone to do that to her.

‘Her dress looked beautiful. It must have been heartbreaking.

‘I reached out to Emilee and said “I would love it if you could come, so you could have another prom”.’

Although Emilee said she’ll be buying a new dress to mark the occasion, she added that she was ‘very excited’ for the Alice in Wonderland-themed ball on August 3 in her hometown Doncaster.

Summer’s family received support from PAPYRUS following Summer’s death and wanted to give something back to the charity to help young adults and children suffering with mental health.

Cassie, who organised the ball with Summer’s mother Katie and other relatives, said their target is £5,000, which could train 30 PAPYRUS suicide prevention workers.

The auntie described her niece as ‘beautiful, funny and smart’ who was a ‘great buddy to have’ and was the ‘funny one out of all her friends’.

‘Summer would always befriend people that were down on their luck or needed a friend,’ added Cassie.

‘That’s how she met a lot of her friends – they were girls that needed each other.

‘If Emilee had been at Summer’s school, I think they would have been friends.’

Despite a heartbreaking end to Emilee’s school prom night, the teen said she has been overwhelmed with how many people have offered support and comforted her with kind gestures.

‘I’m in absolute awe about it all, I can’t believe how many lovely people there are in the world!’, said Emilee.

‘It’s really shown me that no matter how dark of a situation there is always something good at the end.’

To buy tickets for Summer’s Charity Ball at Doncaster Deaf Institute, or to donate to PAPYRUS, click here.