‘Cinderella, wait!’ 5-year-old girl with autism mistakes bride for Disney princess
Many people may want to feel like a princess, but for one newlywed bride, it was a chance encounter with a little girl in the park that made that dream come true.
Olivia Spark and her husband had just married and were taking wedding photos in a park in Akron, N.Y., WIBV reported. It was the late afternoon, and the newlywed couple was walking through the park when a voice called out, the groom’s mother wrote on their photographer’s Facebook page.
“While they were walking through the park, they heard a little voice yelling ’Cinderella, wait!’ ” the mom wrote.
The voice was from 5-year-old Layla Lester, a Disney fan who has autism.
“She just goes running over, arms wide open, [yelling] “Cinderella, Cinderella!’” Layla’s mom Jessica said, according to WIVB. “When she sees a princess, she’s going to love them because she loves princesses ... Layla loved her and she fell in love so fast.”
The couple and the photographer had no idea what was happening — but they ran with it, WKBW reported.
“She told Olivia she was beautiful and wanted to touch her dress. My son, and daughter-in-law and their wedding party were moved to tears by this little girl,” the groom’s mom wrote on Facebook. “Their photographer took photos of the little girl and they spent some time with her. Then Cinderella explained that they had to go because she had a ball to get to.”
A video of the encounter shows Layla telling Olivia “Have fun at the ball!”
For Olivia, it was a magical moment.
“I was flattered. I was like in tears that she thought I was a princess, and it just made my day absolutely more amazing than it already was,” Sparks said, according to NBC 2.
“Open your heart to them and they’ll fill it with love they always do in their own special way,” Layla’s mother said of her daughter, WKBW reported.
The story of their surprise meeting was shared on Facebook more than 3,700 times, with hundreds commenting on how adorable they thought the fateful meeting was.
“(Olivia) is the epitome of what a real life princess would be,” Layla’s mom said, according to WIVB. “She’s kind and she’s sweet and she went out of her way to be nice to Layla.”
With the help of social media, the two were able to reconnect. Now community members are trying to raise money to send Layla to Disney World so she can meet all the Disney princesses — at least, the official ones.