REHOBOTH

A 10-year-old Rehoboth girl had a close encounter with "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus during her Providence concert.

Before her sold-out concert at the Dunkin Donuts Center before the Christmas holiday, Cyrus and her mother paid a pre-concert visit to the oncology ward at Hasbro Children's Hospital to meet with patients, and she paid particular attention to Alyssa Carreiro of Rehoboth, who is a big fan of Cyrus' pop star persona, Hannah Montana, made famous by her show on the Disney cable network.

Alyssa had hoped to experience the concert, but couldn't because she's at Hasbro in need of a bone-marrow transplant to help her with her battle against leukemia.

But, thanks to Hasbro, A Wish Come True and Disney, Cyrus visited Alyssa - who lives in Rehoboth with her mother Sherry, father Arthur and younger brother Bubba - before the concert. "Alyssa is a 10-year-old girl under my care for the past three years," said Dr. Edwin Forman of the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

"She initially had what should have been a lethal brain tumor, but was miraculously cured. Recently, she developed a severe and very difficult to treat form of leukemia. She has been at Hasbro for more than a month, awaiting a bone-marrow transplant, which is her only chance of survival.

After learning of her story, Cyrus and her mother spent half an hour with Alyssa, and later that evening at the sold-out concert, dedicated a song to her.

She also promised to send Alyssa a copy of the show.

The Carreiro family is grateful for the visit, but is still waiting - and hoping - that a bone-marrow match can be found.