High school senior graduates early to fulfill mom's final wish: 'There wasn't a dry eye in that room'

Stacie Scyrkels just had one request before she died - to see her son graduate from high school and her son, Caleb Woodrum, made sure she got what she asked for. Usually, the graduation ceremonies happen in May or June but due to a special request, the ceremony for Woodrum took place on March 28 at the hospital bedside of his mother, as reported by GoodMorningAmerica. Woodrum was a student at Blanchard High School. His Principal, Greg Jackson, was present at the hospital to pronounce him a graduate. The 18-year-old, Woodrum, was surrounded by his family members and staff at the Integris Health Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City. "There wasn't a dry eye in that room," said Jackson.

Scyrkels was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. For the last six years, Woodrum was the one who was taking care of her and bringing her to all the doctor's appointments. It was only on March 27 that Woodrun got to know how exactly Scyrkels was doing. One of the nurses from his mother's care team told him that they were planning an impromptu graduation ceremony. The whole event was put together in less than 24 hours. The nursing team knew that Scyrkels would not make it until May for the actual ceremony. "Kati Crouch -- she is the respiratory therapist that had been taking care of her for a while on her rotations and Stacie had mentioned to her that she just wanted to be able to make it to May to be able to see her youngest son graduate from high school," Christina Hopkins, a nurse at the hospital, said.

So Christina shared that she put up a Facebook post that said, 'Hey friends and family if you have any graduation decorations or supplies that you would like to donate, urgent request, I need them as soon as possible.' Other than food and decoration, the hospital also gets in touch with the Blanchard High School and Principal, Jackson. He was more than happy to make the ceremony happen early. Jackson recalled, "We said, 'Sure.' We didn't know whether she wanted us next week, week after and I think that's when it hit home is when the nurse said, 'Well, no, we need to do this tomorrow.'"  "So we did [the] same thing anyone else would do. We grabbed a cap and gown and a diploma and we got it set up and went to Integris Southwest on Tuesday at noon and granted her wish."

Woodrum was thankful that his late mother and their dear ones could come together for such a special occasion. "It was very surreal. It was something that I couldn't have imagined … but I'm glad that I did get to make that memory with her," he said.

Following the ceremony, the mother-son duo shared a hug. "The hug that she gave her son took a lot out of her. But she did it and she persevered because that's what she wanted. You can see the love pouring out of her at that moment," Hopkins said. Stacie Scyrkels died the day after the ceremony on March 29, which was also her 57th birthday. "Getting to do that for her was probably one of the most spectacular memories I will ever have and keep in my heart forever," Woodrum told KOCONews5.