Wisconsin
teens Mikenzy Snell and Matt Pliska’s prom picture has gone viral
thanks to the inspiring message they share about Down Syndrome. (Photo:
Young Broadcasting of Green Bay, Inc.)
Most teens at the prom hope to wow with a stunning dress or swanky tux, but two Wisconsin friends earned admiration with a sign.
After
Waupaca High School dates Mikenzy Snell and Matt Pliska, who has Down
Syndrome, posed for a photo at their March 28 dance holding a poster
that reads, “Real friends don’t count extra chromosomes,” the image went
viral. Hundreds of “likes” on Facebook spawned a local news story on as well as national attention on the duo’s inspiring friendship, which Mikensy’s mother Carmen Snell tells Yahoo Parenting will “last their lifetime.”
Photo: Young Broadcasting of Green Bay, Inc.
“Some
of her best times had are with Matt,” says Carmen of Pliska, a leukemia
survivor and team manager for his school’s boy’s hockey team and girl’s
soccer team. “They see movies, go out for dinner and to go watch high
school sporting events together.”
Mikenzy
— who coaches Special Olympics basketball — also goes to bat for her
bud, whom she calls “My bestest friend. Ever
