A video of a Hull teenager reacting to Lightning McQueen arriving to take her to Prom has blown up on TikTok with almost two million views and over 230,000 likes reacting to the footage.
Terri Johnson, 38, spoke to Hull Live about the moment her daughter, Lillie — a ‘mad Lightning McQueen fan’ — first spied the vehicle which supplied in support of a charity, came to whisk her away for her special night.
Terri said that ever since Lillie was a toddler she has been obsessed with the Disney Pixar Cars character and when she was two, she had a Lightning McQueen themed birthday party. Her love of the colourful character only grew with time — her school leavers shirt even has a picture of Lightning McQueen on the back of it.
Lillie, 16, also changed into a pair of Lightning McQueen Crocs after initially wearing high heels at her prom as they were more comfortable and made it easier to dance. The TikTok video has proven popular with people from all over who love the fact Lillie acknowledges her mother before going over to the car which made her jaw drop. Her mum believes the reason the video has gone viral is due to such a lovely moment being caught on camera, combined with Lillie’s genuine reaction to the car.
Terri said: “You can feel the emotion watching it. I was unsure how she would feel turning up to her prom in Lightning McQueen. I kept this a secret for so long and I was very nervous.
“But she was gobsmacked and absolutely loved it. It is actually crazy the reaction the video has had, it is mad. Lillie came out thinking a family member had turned up and her seeing that was just an emotional reaction. She completely embraced it.
“Children and parents were watching at the prom, even the teachers were complimentary about the car. The head teacher was giggling and thought it was fantastic!”
(Image: Terri Johnson)
The four wheeled special guest almost didn’t make it after Terri had spied a number of options that were either too expensive for her budget or too far away. But fate seemed to have intervened when Terri came across an online ad on her daughter’s birthday of a family using the car to support a charity named WISHH – Working Independently Supporting Hull Hospitals. The family advertise their Lightning McQueen car for use and ask only for a donation in return, which made Lillie’s wish come true.
This arrangement made the missing ingredient possible and Terri booked the car for her daughter’s prom. Terri said there were plenty of other beautiful automobiles at the prom from Land Rovers to Porsches but Lillie was in the only character car on the night. And her favourite vehicle from a film that has played a big role in her life and means so much to her made it a special evening for the teenager.
Terri stated that she was grateful to the car’s owners and wanted to get the word out about them highlighting their ‘beautiful back story.’ She also revealed that they have stayed in touch since the prom.
The family of much-loved Catherine Harrison – who passed away from cancer – created their very own Lightning McQueen car in her memory to raise funds to support Castle Hill Hospital, according to the charity WISHH.
Catherine’s daughter Aphrael, said: “My mum was a truly spectacular woman and she loved watching the Cars film with my son. She taught him to say ‘McQueen’ whenever he saw the character come up on the TV.
“It was one of many special times they shared together. We lost our mum to cancer and have dedicated Lightning McQueen in memory of her, to raise funds for the WISHH Charity.
“The nurses at Castle Hill Hospital helped my mum in her fight against cancer and gave her more months than we expected.”
(Image: WISHH)
Catherine’s Husband Lance added: “I have spent my entire life around cars and have worked with a team to create our very own Lightning McQueen, a tribute to my incredible wife. We are taking McQueen with us to car shows across our area, to help raise funds for Castle Hill Hospital.
“We have our own Facebook page for people to find out where we are next, and request to rent McQueen for birthdays, weddings and other events. At these events we will be requesting donations for WISHH in exchange for photos with McQueen.”