Oakdale High School Holds Special Graduation So Dying Mother Can See Daughter Graduate

There have been countless stories through the coronavirus pandemic that prove how resilient we can be as a human race. But this story is a tough one.

Korean Antoine is a graduating senior at Oakdale High School in southwest Louisiana. For her entire senior, she's watched her mother Shareka battle breast cancer.

“She went through chemo and it wasn’t in remission, and it came back, and when it came back it went to her lungs," Demetria Tolbert, Shareka’s sister told KPLC-TV. “One day she told me that she was just trying to hang on for Korean’s graduation.”

There was one problem -- Korean's graduation was pushed back to June due to COVID-19.

“She basically was saying she was trying to hold on but she didn’t know if she could because her body, it was tired,” Tolbert said. “I decided that when she came home from the hospital, we would try to get this for her.”

So Tolbert reached out to Oakdale High School principal Brad Soileau via Facebook. He was glad to make a special graduation ceremony for Korean and her mom.

“We were able to plan it and do it on a Monday at 1 o’clock," said Principal Brad Soileau. "Me and my assistant principal, Wilda Lynn Deville went to the home.”

It surely will be a graduation Soileau will never forget.

Sadly, just a few hours after the graduation ceremony took place, Shareka Antoine passed away.

“It was a blessing and it touched my heart, and it’s going to forever be in my heart,” Tolbert said. “It was a blessing because I knew that she was waiting on and that’s what she wanted to see.”