This footage of the moment a proud American dad throws his daughter an impressive graduation ceremony in the driveway has been released by his family after the story went round the world.
With many students unable to receive their diplomas on the big stage, the proud father in Memphis in the US state of Tennessee made sure his teen daughter still got to experience a graduation ceremony in style.
The event took place two weeks ago, but proud dad Torrence Burson said he was touched by the massive interest in it, and released this heartwarming footage to share it with others.
In the video, a large stage and loudspeaker system are seen set up in the driveway as the student makes a speech and residents look on from the street.
The young woman, Gabrielle Pierce, admitted she was devastated when four years of hard work resulted in the cancellation of her graduation ceremony at the Xavier University of Louisiana.
Gabrielle told local media: “Initially I was upset, I was crying. It took me like a week to stop crying. I really wanted to walk, I felt like I needed to walk (on the stage).”
Torrence Burson said he then told his daughter: “After all those years, you’re going to walk across somebody’s stage if I have to build you one myself!
“I went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night and said, ‘that’s it, I’m just going to do the graduation here’.”
Gabrielle said: “I was just in awe. I was amazed. I couldn’t believe a lot of people showed up. People were driving by, yelling congratulations.”
Torrence told local media: “We love our daughter this much. Regardless of the dollar figure, what it took to pull this off. If I had to do this over again, I’d probably do it even bigger.”
Gabrielle said that she plans to enlist with the Air National Guard before continuing her education to become an epidemiologist.
She added that it is her dream to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
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