‘The happiest I’ve ever seen her’: Local teenager’s kindness turns a special needs prom into pure magic

AMMON — Lisa Belnap is still smiling when she thinks about last Saturday night.

Her daughter, Brie Belnap, was among a group of students from Thunder Ridge High School and other Bonneville Joint School District 93 schools invited to a special needs prom at The Brickyard Event Center.

“Brie doesn’t talk, doesn’t walk and doesn’t eat by mouth. Her way of communication is by sound and her reactions,” says Lisa Belnap. “As far as we could tell, she was normal at birth but got really sick at six weeks, and then she never met any of her milestones. Doctors don’t know what’s wrong. She’s undiagnosed and is a medical mystery.”

Every day, Brie attends an adaptive needs Latter-day Saint seminary class during school hours. There are students like her with special needs, as well as other kids who signed up to serve as peer mentors.

Kaleb Brock is one of the mentors. The 18-year-old loves to snowboard, rock climb, ski, and was named “Lightning Player of the Year” on the Thunder Ridge football team.

“I met Brie in my adaptive needs seminary class. The class is definitely different, but it’s really cool and gives you a different perspective of how you can help and serve someone,” Kaleb tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Kaleb only has a few weekends left before he graduates, but when he heard about the special needs prom, he rallied his friends to go and decided to ask Brie to be his date.

“I got her mom’s phone number from my seminary teacher, and the next day I made a poster and asked her in class,” Kaleb recalls.

Because she’s in a wheelchair, Brie’s parents drove her to the dance, where Kaleb was anxiously waiting. Parents were asked to stick around in case their children needed them, so Lisa and her husband, Steve Belnap, watched as Kaleb danced next to their daughter for two hours.

“She’s been to two special needs proms in the past, but this one was different,” Lisa Belnap says. “This was the first time she actually really enjoyed her time there. At other dances, I’ve had to take over when Brie became upset, but I didn’t have to do that at all this time.”

Lisa had never met Kaleb before, but she was immediately impressed by how gently he cared for Brie. When Brie becomes overstimulated, she often hits her neck, so Lisa or Steve places a hand between Brie’s hand and her neck to keep her from hurting herself.

“At one point, she started to hit her neck and Kaleb put his hand between hers and her neck. He did that without being asked. He just naturally knew what to do and was so sweet,” Lisa Belnap says.

According to his dad, Kaleb has always been a kind-hearted boy, and he wasn’t surprised to hear that his son and friends were excited about going to the special needs prom.

“I don’t think we knew until Thursday that he was going to the prom on Saturday,” Jeremiah Brock tells EastIdahoNews.com. “He has a tender, good heart. He likes to care for people. He talks about these kids all the time and the fun things they do and how they’ve made him a better person.”

Surveillance cameras at The Brickyard Event Center caught Kaleb and Brie dancing throughout the evening. She is seen bopping her head side-to-side, smiling, and her date never leaves her side. Brian Wood, the owner of the event center, was so impressed by what he saw that he shared video clips with Kaleb’s parents.

“Everybody was so happy to be there. Nobody acted like these kids were eyesores or anything. It’s one of the only times this group of kids gets to be just like their peers. They’re not singled out as being different. They’re not special needs anymore; they’re just dancing and having fun,” says Lisa Belnap.

Kaleb is glad he went to the prom and says he will never forget the evening he spent with Brie.

“I thought I was going to have a good time, but I’m surprised at how much fun it was. And I was really surprised with how much fun she had, too,” he says.

Lisa Belnap will also never forget the dance and the young man who gave her daughter the experience of a lifetime.

“I honestly think this is the happiest I have ever seen her. She just was escastic. You could see it in her eyes,” Lisa Belnap says. “He is just an incredible young man to have acted the way he did toward her. He made her feel very special. I don’t think she’s felt that before because she was really shining.”