WATCH: The community has rallied behind a Nanaimo graduate whose dress was stolen days before her high school prom. Kori Sidaway reports.
Days before her high school prom, Claudia Yaya’s custom-made dress was stolen from the front porch of her Nanaimo home on Tuesday.
“I?m just shocked that someone came in here, opened my gate, like that’s not their house,” Yaya said. “You come up to their front door, pick up their packages and leave with it.?
Since word spread about the theft of the parcel that contained the dress, her neighbours, school and community have come together to turn her luck around.
READ MORE: Dress thief leaves a Nanaimo graduate heartbroken days before prom
The owners of a local dress store in Nanaimo were touched by her story and reached out to help.
“We have our 2018 collection here and we were just hoping that one of them would fit,” said Linda Jesson of Party Girl Fashion. “We’d be able to find her the perfect prom dress.”
Like Cinderella’s glass slipper, it was a perfect fit.
Our beautiful new friend Claudia Yaya in her Party Girl Fashions Prom dress. All ready for the big day tomorrow!
Posted by Party Girl Fashion Exclusives on Friday, June 8, 2018
The couple was so inspired after meeting Yaya, they named the collection after her.
“She said she felt lucky, but actually we felt really lucky,” Jesson explained.
“I never thought someone in the world existed like you,” Yayay said to the Jesson family. “I want to thank you for making my prom so special again.”
The outpouring of generosity and love from her community has allowed Yayay to forgive the person that stole her dress.
“If I could see the thief, I would say thank you and buy them dinner, because if it hadn’t been for them I wouldn’t have met all these amazing people, and people who care,” Claudia explained.
Thanks to a community that looks after its own, Yaya will have her Cinderella moment after all.
“I feel like a princess,” Yaya said.
Ceilidh Millar
