PLATTSBURGH, NY (WPTZ/CNN) - A New York school brought a girl’s special graduation ceremony to her dying mother's hospital room.
The ceremony came just two days before the mother’s passing.
Samantha Parrotte graduated from Champlain Valley Technical Center Tuesday night, and it was the second time she wore her cap and gown.
"It's going to be different, but I can still, I'm going to be wearing the same gown," Samantha Parrotte said days before her graduation.
Ten months ago, Samantha's mother, Patricia, got sick with triple negative breast cancer and a rare auto-immune disease.
"My mom sometimes wouldn't be home a week at a time, and it was really hard trying to go to school,” Samantha Parrotte said.
Her father, Todd, noticed Samantha struggling, and gave her an option to take a break from school.
Samantha refused.
"She stepped up to the plate, busted her butt and excelled to make her mother and myself very proud," Todd Parrotte said.
Her mother continued to worsen, and it didn't appear that she would make it to Samantha's graduation day.
CV-Tech and Saranac schools worked together and brought the graduation to Samantha's mother in the hospital in Vermont.
"I went in there and like all of a sudden my mom was back you know not having the cancer affecting her," Samantha Parrotte said.
"We got to see it together, and that was special," Todd Parrotte said.
Two days later, Patricia Parrotte passed away.
Two weeks later, it was time to graduate again.
"I know that she is still with me and she would want me to go to my ceremonies with my class," Samantha Parrotte said.
Samantha wore the same gown she did that day in the hospital, and proudly accepted her diploma for CV-Tech's nursing program.
But she got something more. Samanatha Parrote was this year's winner of the student excellence award for her program.
She didn't see it coming. It was a complete shock to Samantha and her family.
Two graduations for one young woman, and Samantha has the gift of knowing her mom saw it all.
A celebrated student, who learned the most valuable lesson, family comes first.
Copyright 2017 WPTZ via CNN. All rights reserved.
