Oklahoma high school student Micah McDade walks for the first time on graduation day
Teen had been disgnosed with cerebral palsy since birth, but didn't let that stop him from reaching his goal
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Your support makes all the difference.More often than not, graduation ceremonies can be tedious and monotonous events, but this one in Oklahoma in the US has proven they can, sometimes, be anything but.
Micah McDade, from Okmulgee High School, has been doing the rounds on social media this week after defying all the odds to shock his family, peers, and school staff to rise from his wheelchair and walk - for the first time - to collect his diploma.
The teenager had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy from birth and, having gone through countless hours of physical therapy, was finding walking to be a challenge, reports Okmulgee News.
However, little did his peers, the staff, and his own family know that he had been working that bit harder than all the students in his year to reach his goal of being able to walk across the stage on graduation day.
A video of the uplifting moment shows the student rising from his wheelchair - with a little helping hand - to a deafening reaction from the crowd gathered in Harmon Stadium.
Watch the moment McDade walked for the first time:
As McDade is helped back into his wheelchair at the end, the announcer can be heard telling the crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been doing this a long time - that is the best ever.”
His parents, Mark and Anisa McDade, told the news network they “couldn’t be prouder” during the tearful moment they watched their son walk.
Graduation season in the US last year saw a spate of heart-warming and uplifting stories emerge of students going to extraordinary lengths to achieve their dream of graduating alongside their peers.
Chris Norton, from Iowa, was paralysed in 2010 while playing football and was given a three per cent chance to ever move again below his neck, yet managed to walk on stage to collect his business management diploma with his fiancée by his side.
Weeks later, Aly Bonville earned herself an army of fans after she finally reached her goal to help her severely autistic twin brother, Anders, across the stage at their high school graduation in Alabama.
Then, in Virginia, Parker Haller, who became paralysed after a diving accident three years earlier, shocked his classmates, staff, and family when he rose from his wheelchair on-stage to collect his qualification.
So, basically, if last year’s grad season was anything to go by, we’d get the tissues at the ready for the class of 2016 - now.
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