A year ago, 20-year-old Lacey had it all.

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A dance scholarship to college…

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…and the beginnings of a career in modeling.

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Then her left leg starting hurting. She thought it was just a pulled muscle, something dancers feel all the time. But the pain didn’t go away. And then it started hurting more. She was stunned when the doctors figured out what it was: osteosarcoma. Bone cancer.  Lacey felt her whole world falling apart.

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When she lost her hair from the chemotherapy treatments, Lacey refused to be photographed or wear makeup. In fact, she didn’t even want to leave her house. She thought she looked like a boy. Team Summer decided to prove to Lacey how wrong she was!

First we hired a makeup artist – the fabulous Johanna!

laceys-gift-team-summer-2Then a professional photographer, Brenda Richterkessing.

laceys-gift-brendaAnd we watched Lacey light up from the inside as she felt beautiful once again.

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laceys-gift-team-summer-8Lacey says she didn’t feel like a cancer patient that day.

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laceys-gift-team-summer-6Even Lacey’s normally stoic father teared up when he saw Lacey smile again.

laceys-gift-team-summer-13Summer came by the photo shoot and both girls posed together, as if they had known each other for years. The bond between them was instant.

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Lacey was so happy and carefree, you would never have known that the next day she was facing a big surgery to remove part of her femur and her entire knee. She was lost in today, sharing it with her new friend, Summer, who could understand her in a way very few could.

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