Kalamazoo Central High School Principal Valerie Boggan personally presented Yeatise Gaines with a cap, gown and certificate of completion at the hospital on May 14, ahead of the scheduled June 4 commencement.
School administrators, teachers, and more than 20 family members gathered around Yeatise's hospital bed to celebrate her accomplishment. She passed away the next day.
'It was always something she wanted to do,' Yeatise's mother Santasha Gaines told MailOnline. 'If she made it this far she didn't want to leave this earth without the diploma in her hands.'
Ms Gaines says her daughter dreamed of studying oncology in college so she could help children with cancer, just like herself.
The teen asked to be taken out of school for the third time after Thanksgiving, but the dedicated student continued her studies through home schooling.
Ms Sludge also admired the way Yeatise would stay strong even through the most painful periods of her illness.
'I never heard her complain,' Ms Sledge told the Gazette. 'I would give her an A plus on attitude.
'This was a case where the teacher learned from the student,' Sledge said.
During her long battle with cancer, Yeatise underwent 10 surgeries, was in crutches for four years and had severe back pain.
Her mother is just glad that her daughter is no longer feeling that pain.
'She's just happy now that she's with the lord,' Ms Gaines said. 'No more suffering for my daughter period. No more.'
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