GIRL, 5, WITH AUTISM MISTOOK A BRIDE FOR CINDERELLA
A 5-year-old girl with autism mistook a bride for Cinderella and ran at her with open arms, and the bride played along.
Layla Lester, who loves Disney princesses, spotted Olivia Spark at Akron Falls Park in Akron, New York, on October 13, 2018. Spark was taking wedding photos with her new husband when Layla came running.
Layla believed Spark was the real Cinderella. “She just goes running over, arms wide open, [yelling] ‘Cinderella, Cinderella!'” her mother, Jessica Lester, told WPTV.
That kind of moment does not come easily for Layla. Jessica said it could be difficult for her daughter to interact with strangers because of her autism.
Spark stopped her wedding photo session to talk to the little girl. Her new husband, identified by WKBW as Caleb, was with her.
Spark told CBS News: “I was flattered. I was in tears that she thought I was a princess, and it just made my day absolutely more amazing than what it already was.”
She said she was happy to play Cinderella for Layla.
The photographer who caught it
Wedding photographer Nicole Wickins photographed the encounter. She described herself as a wedding and wildlife photographer.
Wickins told Boston 25 News: “I was really caught off-guard because there’s a little girl that none of us had known, so I wasn’t sure if I should take pictures. But it kind of just felt like the thing to do.”
When it was time to part ways, Layla had a send-off ready. “Bye! Have fun at the ball,” she told Spark.
Jessica said her daughter was instantly smitten. “Layla loved her and she fell in love so fast,” she said.
She also had high praise for the bride. “She is the epitome of what a real life princess would be. She’s kind and she’s sweet and she went out of her way to be nice to Layla,” Jessica said.
What happened next
The fairy tale did not end at the park. About one week after the wedding, Spark received her wedding photos.
She then tracked down Layla and Jessica and arranged another photo shoot with them. For that session, Layla and Spark sat together in a replica Cinderella pumpkin carriage.
Spark later met Layla again and brought her gifts, WPTV reported.
A GoFundMe campaign was also set up to help Layla’s family go to Walt Disney World, Boston 25 News reported.
On October 26, 2018, KXLF reported that Spark and Layla continued to see each other frequently and that Spark had visited Layla in her wedding dress.
