It was high school senior Nyla Covington's crowning moment. Her name had just been announced over the loudspeaker. She was Homecoming Queen.
It was a moment she will never forget. But neither will all those who witnessed it.
Because seconds after Nyla received her crown in the middle of her Forrest County Agricultural High School's football field, she showed the world what a TRUE QUEEN is — giving it up to her classmate (and fellow homecoming queen nominee) Brittany Walters, who had devastatingly just lost her mother that morning.
A Mother's Dying Wish
Brittany's mother, A.J. Walters, an administrative assistant at the high school, had died from cancer just hours earlier.
But despite knowing her end was near, it was a day that A.J. didn't want her daughter to miss. She had already made certain that Brittany had the perfect dress, thanks to the help of some friends willing to step in when she couldn't.
And on her last day earthside she whispered one final request to her husband, "Please, Sean... please walk Brittany onto the field at homecoming tonight... please."
He kept his promise.
That evening, a mere eight hours after suffering their heartwrenching loss, the grieving father-daughter duo watched from the 50-yard line as Nyla Covington was crowned.
However, it wasn't homecoming or the crown that Brittany was thinking about. It was her mom.
"All I could think about was my mom and how she wanted to be here, and then the next thing I know, Nyla walked towards me, and she hugged me," Brittany told WDAM. "I just didn't really think anything of it, and then she started to take off her crown."
A Homecoming Queen Proves the True Meaning of 'Queen'
Mere moments after receiving her crown, Nyla made the split-second decision to give it away. After quickly clearing it with school officials, she walked over to Brittany and placed the tiara on her head. "This belongs to you," she said.
Understandably, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
The heartwarming moment was captured on video and Brittany shared it on TikTok where it has been viewed over 3.5 million times.
She captioned it: "One of the hardest nights of my life without her. i have so much love for everyone involved. we all lost a mom that day💕 #missyoumom"
Take a look and try not to cry:
“I just felt like it was something that was put on my heart,” Nyla told CNN of why she did it. “It was really just for her, to bring up her day a little bit, and she’d rather have her mom than a crown… but the point was, I was telling her that she was her mom’s queen and I was just letting her know that she was loved by many and especially me.”
Brittany also thinks her mother's spirit had a little something to do with it.
“My mom would have done the same thing if she was in Nyla’s shoes, and I just felt my mom’s presence there,” Brittany said. “I can see my mom through Nyla. They have the same exact caring, giving spirit and it’s really fulfilling.”
Brittany's father, Sean, and Will Wheat, principal at FCAHS, hope that A.J.’s kindness and Nyla’s beautiful gesture will encourage others to also have a giving heart.
“We hope that Nyla’s selfless act will be a light for the rest of society,” Wheat said. “So, we’re very proud of her and her giving nature.”
How One Tiny Selfless Act Inspired the World
Nyla's small act of kindness didn't just move her small community in Mississippi to tears, it moved the world.
And it didn't go unnoticed. Ellen (THE Ellen) heard about what Nyla did and invited the two friends onto her show where she presented them with cheques for $10,000 each, courtesy of TisBest.
The girls also received a $5,000 TisBest Charity Gift Card to keep the kindness momentum going — by donating the funds to their favorite charities.
One good turn, after all, deserves another.
Be the Light
Nyla didn't have to give up her crown. But she did it anyway. Without hesitation, she took the opportunity to turn the spotlight away from herself and shine it on someone who needed the support and love of her community.
On the darkest day of her life, Brittany wasn't just gifted a crown, she was given something so much more precious — a glimmer of light.
It's a reminder that even when our hearts are shattered into a million pieces, and we are shrouded in grief, it's in those very cracks where the light shines through.
And while we may not be able to take away the pain of grief or loss, we can choose to be the light in someone else's darkness.
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