American Fork High honors grad who passed away from cancer, sibling walk in her place
AMERICAN FORK, Utah (ABC4) — Two years ago, Samantha Corey was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Wednesday evening, her siblings were able to walk at what would have been her American Fork High School graduation ceremony.
As Samantha’s sister and brother walked across the stage, they were met with a standing ovation. Samantha’s mom, Kimberly Corey, said it was something her family will never forget.
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“You could tell they were just so glad that she got to be a part of it. And proud of her for her accomplishments and all her hard work she put into it,” Corey said.
According to Samantha’s family, while she was going through multiple cancer treatments, she continued school and met the requirements to graduate. She was supposed to be graduating Wednesday, but passed away from the cancer in January.
Alpine School District Director of Communications Rich Stowell said there were some moments during the ceremony that paid respect to her, and those were really moving moments.
“We’ll just never be able to have that moment again, and we’re grateful we got it. It was a miracle,” Corey said.
At first, the family didn’t think walking for their daughter would be possible.
The Alpine School District had told them that based off of a current policy they had on student memorials at graduation, it couldn’t happen. However, after a few days, the district made an exception.
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