Everyone needs a bit of magic in their lives, especially those who fought strongly to stay alive and emerged winners. There is nothing worse than seeing your own child suffering and battling against a disease so severe as cancer.
However, there isn’t a greater joy in life than when you see your precious child happy and carefree, enjoying being a child once more.
And that’s exactly what happened in the case of the 5-year-old Arianna Taft, a little girl who was battling an aggressive form of kidney cancer. Arianna was diagnosed earlier this year with kidney cancer, and although the doctors have successfully removed the tumor and her kidney, she is still sick as there is cancer “on her other kidney, her lungs, her liver, her lymph nodes,” according to her dad, Ryan.
“You hear cancer and you think all the bad things that are associated with it, but… she hasn’t allowed a single day to be difficult,” Ryan explains. “You can’t look at her and see what she’s going through and not feed off of that strength.”
That’s how strong and brave this little girl is. She’s a real-life warrior princess! And, as a Princess, it was only natural for her to be part of this incredible, once in a lifetime photoshoot where she had the opportunity to transform into her favorite Disney princesses!
This photoshoot wouldn’t have been possible without Ashley Richer, the amazing photographer behind these wonderful photos, who since 2018 has been donating themed photoshoots to kids with cancer.
Arianna’s story reached Ashley through a client of hers and that was all it took. Ashley immediately contacted Arianna’s dad, Ryan, and asked him if they would be interested in a magical princess themed photoshoot, where Arianna could dress up and become herself a Disney Princess. Shen then asked Ryan which were Arianna’s favorite ones so she could buy all the necessary outfits for the photoshoot!
Ashley started doing these types of photoshoots after her son’s best friend, Lia, passed away from cancer back in 2017. However, what many might not know, is that Ashley herself had experienced quite the health challenges when she was younger, life-threatening incidents that gave her another perspective on life, leading her to become the incredible photographer she is now, creating magic from her camera and making little boys and girls heroes in their own fairy tales!
As she said, “Just make other people’s lives better by something so simple as taking a photo and then just being creative with it”.
Little Arianna is truly an inspiration, a bright star that shines even on the darkest of days, and as her dad confessed, “to see her do something that’s really like a once-in-a-lifetime experience just puts into perspective to enjoy all the little things, but also the big things, and to really focus on the positive.”
Hopefully, Arianna will be able to beat cancer once and for all, and she will have the opportunity to experience the normal childhood she truly deserves. Let’s finish this article on her dad’s own words, “She’s just representative of bald is beautiful and bald can be a Disney princess, and she’s loving on every minute of it.”
See more of Ashley’s gorgeous photos on her website.
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