Joe DiMaggio Hospital patients attend masquerade ball

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - It was a truly memorable occasion for a group of South Florida teens whose tough health battles prevented them from going to their school dances — so the dance floor came to them.

Smiles and love lit up Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital on Friday as teenage patients dressed to impress and got pampered for the party ahead of the hospital’s masquerade prom.

“I already went to some spa to get my eyebrows waxed,” said Ariana. “I got my fingernails done and my toenails as well.”

More than three dozen current and former patients received a special red carpet treatment.

Ariana’s mother, Adriana Pazmin, said her daughter has confronted her serious medical issue bravely. “She’s been a trouper. I call her my little warrior princess,” said Pazmin.

This summer, doctors discovered that Ariana would need a new heart. “We were here in May, admitted at the end of May,” said Pazmin. “We got the call September 5th, just before the hurricane, and she got her heart.”

Having missed her homecoming dance while recovering, Ariana is making up for lost time. The masquerade ball allowed her to forget about any problems for one evening.

“It’s her first night to let loose and be herself again, get in touch with music and hang out with other kids,” said Pazmin.

And it was a “Thriller” of a night, with a Michael Jackson impersonator joining the party.

“After all my brother has been through with his cancer and everything, it’s good to have fun and forget about what he’s gone through,” said attendee Valerie Hans, speaking about her brother Joseph.

The event, put on by the hospital, takes months of planning and plenty of donations from the community. “This is our second one, and it is very special because it takes a lot of people to put something like this on,” said a hospital spokesperson, “not only staff here at the hospital, but people outside in the community that can help donate their time and their services to make this event possible.”

It was a night these teens said they would not forget and a chance to cherish a moment so many others take for granted.

“I love it. It’s the best hospital in the world,” said Joseph Hans.

To give the event an even more authentic red carpet feel, organizers had fake reporters lined up to interview the patients as they arrived.

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