AURORA | Her feelings developed over a matter of years, a stretch of time that included plenty of shared meals, casual chats and paired walks after school.
Alysha Dunning, 16, said her crush on William Randolph, 18, developed and deepened over three years as the pair took classes through the Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Medical Day Treatment Program. She had Type 1 diabetes, he had suffered from kidney failure. Both were too sick to attend public school, and both established friendships, daily routines and social lives in the halls and classrooms at the Children’s Hospital building in Aurora.
They gravitated toward each other, Dunning said.
“We sometimes hang out together after school. We gave each other our phone numbers so we can contact each other,” Dunning recalled as she stood with Randolph on June 11 in the hospital’s Teen Lounge. “When I first met him, I had a little crush on him. As the years went by, I had a bigger and bigger and bigger crush, day by day. He’s a charmer.”
Dunning was decked in a striped gown, a dress of vibrant blue, pink, green and turquoise. Randolph dressed in a traditional black-and-white tuxedo, an elegant choice for the couple’s first formal date. They chatted with friends, threw darts and grabbed snacks before heading to the other side of the second floor for Children’s Hospital Colorado’s sixth annual Prom. Dunning and Randolph would join about 120 other guests — fellow students from the Medical Day Treatment classes, current patients from the hospital’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and hospital alums who’d finished their treatments. Attendees aged 13 years and older came together to eat, dance and take part in a prom, a rite that many may have missed because of chronic illness.
“This is my first time being at a prom,” said Randolph, who will turn 19 next month. His words came rapidly and his excitement seemed to build. “I just want to say congratulations to myself for having a good prom, and my first prom ever.”
For six years, Children’s Hospital’s prom has given patients the chance to take part in an important rite for American teenagers. Stylists are on hand to help create elaborate hairdos, restaurants provide top-notch eats and hospital staff organizes the event with a specific theme in mind. This year’s “Under the Sea” dance featured decorative ships and sea animals made of papier maché and cardboard.
“I love all of it, I love seeing the kids feeling really special … I love the kids getting together, and not having to tell their stories and not having to explain what’s been going on in their lives. They have to do that enough of the time. They just get to hang out and have fun,” said Tommi McHugh, a child life specialist at Children’s who plays a key role in organizing the event. “I think when you have a long-term diagnosis people know that about you and that’s how they identify you – you’re the kids with cancer, you’re the kid with cystic fibrosis … I just love that there’s one night in the year when that’s not part of it.”
McHugh and the rest of the staff at Children’s wanted to offer even greater access for this year’s event, moving the prom to the Children’s Hospital Colorado facility in Aurora. Past dances were held at hotels in downtown Denver, and the commute was difficult for some of the hospital’s sicker patients.
“I always feel horrible when I’m walking out the door to go to prom and I’m leaving kids who are getting treated behind,” McHugh said. “I was not an expert on planning a prom in a hospital, and I think I might be an expert on planning a prom in a hospital now. There’s just a lot of details that I never thought about.”
Those details included bringing in a full dance floor, organizing caterers, wrangling decorations and putting together a team of hair stylists. The effort was worth it for patients like Randolph and Dunning, who were able to change into their prom duds after class at the hospital. It was also an appealing touch for veterans of the event, including 22-year-old Mike Turnock and his girlfriend Chelsea D’Angelo.
Turnock was diagnosed with lymphoma as a 19-year-old student at the University of Northern Colorado and received treatment at the hospital in Aurora. He underwent chemotherapy sessions for five days at the end of every other week for a period of about five months. Turnock has officially been in remission since 2009, but he and D’Angelo have made a point to attend the prom event for the past three years. Coming back to the hospital in Aurora for the dance felt rewarding for Turnock.
“I like it better, because the inpatients are here,” said Turnock, who’d completed the Tough Mudder competition in Beaver Creek the day before. “If they get tired, they can just leave and it’s not a problem … When we were standing in the teen lounge, all of the patients looked like they knew each other. It was cool to see.”
Two of those patients, Dunning and Randolph, mingled with their classmates and peers before heading into the dance. Dunning admitted that the pair’s friends had put pressure on them to have their first kiss on the dance floor, but their focus seemed solidly rooted in just being together. A giant grin broke out on Randolph’s face as he recalled the moment when Dunning asked him to take her to the dance.
“It filled my heart with lots of joy,” he said.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707