Jerika Bolen is a 14-year old girl who is braver than we"ll ever be.
A resident of Wisconsin, Bolen suffers from spinal muscular atrophy. This is a disease that has basically left her immobile after damaging the muscles all around her body.
The condition does not have a cure.
In pain and unable to do anything on her own, Bolen has decided to enter hospice care in August.
However, before she teams with physicians to take her own life, Bolen attended a prom thrown by her community in her honor on Friday.
According to The New York Daily News, Bolen showed up to the special event in a turquoise mermaid gown with “her usually purple hair dyed a similar shade.”
She was escorted in a stretch limo by local first responders.
Earlier this summer, Jerika told her mother, Jen Bolen, that she was ready to die.
She explained to the The Post-Crescent over the weekend that she’s at peace with her decision, but is “heartbroken” for her close friends and family member who will grieve her passing.
"When I decided, I felt extremely happy and sad at the same time,” Bolen told to the local newspaper, adding:
“There were a lot of tears, but then I realized I’m going to be in a better place, and I’m not going to be in this terrible pain. I’ve been working on it and thinking about it for way longer than anyone else has.”
In June, Jerika and her mother made arrangements for hospice care in the area.
Toward the end of August, the ventilator she relies on for 12 hours a day to assist her breathing will be pulled and she’ll be placed on morphine.
The 14-year says she is nearly in constant chronic pain in her hips and back, along with getting nerve spasms and having very weak bones.
For now, though, Bolen is contest. Thanks to Friday"s prom.
“I’m super happy and I don’t have to think about anything bad at the moment,” she told The Post-Crescent of the celebration, where she later won the title of prom queen.
We can"t think of a more deserving individual.
“I try to be as happy as possible,” Jerika said yesterday.
“I know I can’t always be happy every day. I still wonder why God picked me to have this disease and I know I can never know the reason. Maybe because I’m strong, I guess.”
