Graduating with heart
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on May 27, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Ashley Larimore, right, accepts her diploma from Wayne Early/Middle College High School principal Freda Allen Thursday night at The Bridge Church. Larimore received a heart transplant earlier this year. She plans to return to WEMCHS in the fall to get her associate degree.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Michaela Agree, center, smiles as she and her classmates wait to turn their tassels as the Wayne Early Middle College High School Class of 2016 at The Bridge Church Thursday night.
Same ambitions, different heart.
Slightly more than two months ago, 17-year-old Ashley Larimore's future hung in the balance.
On March 11, Ms. Larimore did not know if she would make it to Wayne Early/Middle College High School's graduation Thursday night.
She needed a new heart.
On Thursday night, her ambition to graduate became a reality.
"Before my transplant, I always wanted to make it to graduation," Ms. Larimore said following Thursday night's ceremony. "I knew that I would, no matter what, get it at the perfect time and I did. I made it to prom, and I was able to make it to graduation."
During Thursday's ceremony, Ms. Larimore's graduation cap was decorated with a heart, and text that read, "I am here because of an organ donor."
If everything works out, she plans to give her graduation cap to the family that donated the heart.
"I'm hoping to meet my donor family, and if I do I'm going to give it to them," Ms. Larimore said.
Ms. Larimore has not met the donor family yet. She must send a letter to them through Duke Hospital, where she received her transplant. If the family replies, she will be able to meet them.
As she completes her studies at WEMCHS, she will go to college in hopes of entering the medical field.
"I've always wanted to be in the medical field," Ms. Larimore said.
She will return to WEMCHS in the fall to complete her associate degree, and then hopes to go on to become a nurse in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit at Duke Hospital to help young children with cardiac problems just as nurses helped her when she was born.
"Originally, she wanted to be a neonatal doctor, taking care of the premature babies, but then she realized as she's gotten older that the doctors don't stay in there all the time. It's the nurses that interact more with the family and are the constant caregivers, and that's really what she wanted to do so that's when she switched over," said Ms. Larimore's father, Greg Larimore. "She has something to offer to the families."
Three of Ms. Larimore's neonatal nurses from Duke Hospital attended Thursday night's ceremony to see her graduate. When Ms. Larimore was born, she only weighed 1 pound and 12 ounces. She also had a twin, named Matthew, who died 30 days after they were both born.
"It's special -- it's nice to know you made a difference in a life," said Misty Lyon, one of Ms. Larimore's neonatal nurses.
Nancy Navarro, another one of Ms. Larimore's neonatal nurses, said Thursday's graduation event lined up perfectly with her retirement next month.
"To me, it's like the best retirement gift because I'm retiring next month," Mrs. Navarro said. "It comes full circle for me."
WEMCHS graduated more than 50 students at Thursday night's ceremony at the Bridge Church in Princeton.
There were six student speakers who addressed the class during the ceremony, and former WEMCHS principal Lee Johnson was in attendance to see the class of 2016 launch the next chapter in their futures.