Gone Too Soon, Megan Carpenter Remembered

Fairy princess makeovers were the order of the night at the 2013 Plant City Relay For Life, where tables adorned in pink, manned by volunteers dressed in pink, punctuated a community's commitment to never forget Megan Carpenter and her young life well lived.

"She was very involved with Plant City High School and she was just an amazing girl who needs to be remembered," said Kelly Drake, 16, a junior at the school Carpenter attended. 

Carpenter died in 2006 at age 17. Her long battle with cancer ended just days after community fundraisers were held for her and two other Plant City teenagers battling cancer.

• See Teen [Megan Carpenter] Loses Battle Against Cancer, posted Nov. 16, 2006 in The Tampa Tribune

• See Plant City Teenager [Alexandria "Allie" Prescott] Loses Lifelong Fight With Disease, posted July 1, 2007, in the Tampa Tribune

According to Carpenter's obituary, she fought a cancer battle that lasted five- and a-half years.

This sweet angel showed everyone she met or touched what it means to believe in miracles, to look for the positive in everything, to keep on smiling even when it was hard and to never give up because Megan believed with all her heart and soul that God would never give her more than she could handle.nMegan was our miracle angel who loved God, her family, her friends, living life to the fullest, the beach, watching the sunsets and rainbows and being a cheerleader.

At the 2013 Plant City Relay For Life on April 19, Drake, with junior Courtney Carter, carried a pink sign with a picture of Carpenter, dressed in a formal gown, noting the "fairy princess makeovers" available in her honor, including "sparkly make-up, nails, goody bag and a real fair princess crowning by the [Florida Strawberry Festival] Queen.

"She was beautiful," said Carter, who noted as well her desire to relay on behalf of all the people she knows who have been stricken with cancer.

"My uncle and my aunt, teachers at my school and many people at my church had cancer. My Aunt Felicia died at age 26 from it," she said. "So I like to come out here and support everyone who has had cancer. It's ridiculous and unfortunate and we need to find a cure, like now, and heal everyone."