For Alyssa Rose, her family, and her many friends, walking across the stage to receive her high school diploma at Riverview Rural High School’s graduation ceremony in Coxheath, N.S., Wednesday, was the moment they had all pictured for months.
"Last night was amazing, it was spectacular, it was everything in the world to watch my daughter walk across the stage,” Alyssa’s father Shawn Rose said on Thursday.
Not long ago, Alyssa had a difficult enough time walking down the hallway from her hospital bed.
In early April, she underwent a 22-hour surgery for a brain tumour she has been battling for years.
She spent most of the time since then recovering in a hospital in Halifax, and needed weeks of physiotherapy to regain the ability to walk.
For days following her operation, Alyssa couldn't regain consciousness.
As her parents waited bedside for weeks on end, there were times they weren't sure what the future might hold.
"When she came out of surgery, especially at the four week mark, we did not think we were actually going to watch her walk across the stage to graduate,” Shawn said. “We thought she was going to actually, really not make it."
On Monday, there was another milestone as Alyssa was able to make her way through her grand march.
"A couple of the physiotherapists said she probably wouldn't be able to walk the whole grand march, and she did,” her father said. “She walked the whole grand march, it was an hour, again, with the help of her boyfriend Carter."
Now that she has been able to enjoy prom and graduation the way she wanted, Alyssa plans to begin studying towards a bachelor of science degree at Cape Breton University in the fall, with a goal of becoming a pharmacist or pharmacologist.
"The stars and the sky are what's next for her, the whole universe. I'm sure whatever she decides to do, she's going to accomplish everything she wants,” Shawn said.
Shawn said most of his daughter’s tumour has been removed, and while doctors will still keep a close eye on things the hope is she will be able to stay healthy. For now, the family is simply savouring their special moment.
"In my 48 years, last night was the best part of my life. I have three beautiful daughters, and I treat them, they're all equally beautiful, but last night was amazing,” Rose said.
