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Princess party thrown for sick Fruitland girl

Posted at 6:51 PM, Apr 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-12 14:54:29-04

With only a few weeks left to live, a local 6-year-old is crossing items off her bucket list with help from the community.

This weekend, the Treasure Valley rallied around Alanna Schiffhauer and her family at a ball fit for a princess. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in Jan. of 2015.

After treatments to fight off the childhood cancer where tumors form in certain types of nerve tissue in different parts of the body, Schiffhauer went into remission for a year. Then, most recently, several tumors came back with a vengeance.

YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO ALANNA'S BUCKET LIST HERE

Doctors can't do anything more to cure her cancer. After giving her 6-9 months to live, the Fruitland girl now only has a couple of weeks left.

"She is strong-willed. She fought a good fight, she really fought a good fight for a long time. She did," said Tammy Johnson, Alanna's grandmother. "She wanted to go to school really bad and she got to do that. She's gotten to do some really amazing things."

Schiffhauer's love for Disney princesses inspired those close to the family to throw her a princess-themed party.

People from all over the Treasure Valley dressed up and arrived at the Fruitland Middle School Saturday evening where there were smores, cotton candy, fingernail painting and a ball.

Jenica Lawrence met Schiffhauer's mother, Jenne, in the hospital.

One of Lawrence's daughters was diagnosed with leukemia.

"It was just an instant friendship and she [Alanna's mother] walked me through some pretty tough stuff," Lawrence said.

The Schiffhauer family can't thank everyone enough for making the night so special. The princess party date was moved up when they received the heartbreaking news.

"It's a testament to how much this family means to the community to have this kind of a turnout for this child," Lawrence said. "It has just blown everybody away that they would pull it together this fast and with such a huge turnout with 48 hours notice."

"It's been a difficult situation but it's also a beautiful celebration of her life," Johnson said. "And, that's what we plan to do with the rest of the time that we have."

Schiffhauer also has on her bucket list the desire to ride on a fire truck. She has plans to do just that this week. The family will also be celebrating an early Christmas.