14-Year-Old Girl From Utah Had 10 Brain Surgeries After Being Injured By Classmates Is Crowned Homecoming Queen Two Years Later

Nov 13, 2019 by apost team

17-year-old Deserae Turner knows the importance of life’s smallest moments. In 2017, Deserae was shot in the back of the head and left for dead in a canal on a frosty February night. Deserae defied fate and the gunman’s rage by coming back from the vicious assault.

Deserae defied fate and the gunman’s rage by coming back from the vicious assault. After ten brain surgeries and extensive physical therapy, Deserae goes about her life the same as any other young woman, being known in her school, Green Canyon High School, as a sweet, bubbly student. Throughout her rehabilitation, Deserae found a well of support from her community of North Logan, Utah, who rallied around the teen. For everything that she's been through, her community recently bestowed a great honor upon Deserae: homecoming queen.

When Deserae found out that she was to be her school’s homecoming queen, she reacted much like any other teenage girl, obsessing over the right dress and the perfect makeup and hair routine. Upon hearing that Deserae would be Green Canyon High School’s homecoming queen, her mom, April, shared the news on Facebook. April uses social media to keep the public informed of news involving her daughter’s health, such as informing Deserae’s supporters that she has two additional brain surgeries scheduled for the end of this year.

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After reading that Deserae was going to be homecoming queen, many people in the community donated money to the Turners, ensuring that Deserae would be able to find her dream dress and get glammed up by a professional. Deserae later thanked those who donated money to her in an interview with FOX 13 News, saying that the community’s generosity is proof positive that so many people care for her.

Reflecting on the big night, Deserae says that in retrospect it wasn’t that big a deal, but it was to her after everything she has gone through over the last two years. Deserae said that that she felt like Cinderella for the night and is hopeful that everyone eventually feels as happy as she did at her school’s homecoming.

Continuing, Deserae says that she even had her own Cinderella moment during the ceremony.

“The homecoming king got down and put my shoe on and I totally felt like Cinderella. It was a beautiful moment,” she told FOX13.

After graduating high school, Deserae says that she plans to serve the world herself as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What do you think of Deserae’s story? Isn’t it amazing that she has such a positive attitude after everything she has been through?