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The Fredericton Daily Gleaner Greater Fredericton FHS sends 400 out to face their future ALISON LYNCH When Fredericton High School graduate Laura Cain was called to the Aitken University Centre stage at last night's graduation ceremony, she had butterflies in her stomach. She wished she could have walked across the stage. Instead, Cain received her diploma in a wheelchair. But that couldn't dampen the new graduate's spirits, because Cain is a survivor. She has been since birth. Cain was one of about 400 students to receive a diploma at Fredericton High School's graduation ceremony. Jeff Pierce was valedictorian and Natalie Weigum won the Governor's General Academic Medal for graduating with the highest academic standing. But one face was missing among the sea of black and yellow gowns. After spending her Grade 12 year fundraising and scrutinizing over the details of grad week, graduate class secretary Heather Moffatt was laid up in hospital with a serious case of mononucleosis. "She worked so hard," her mother Mary Ann said, fighting back tears in an interview from Heather's hospital room Thursday. "Graduation meant a lot for her. I said to her, 'You'll meet in life doers and people that stand back and don't,' and she's such a doer." But the sickness has taken a lot out of her, her mother said. "I'm sure she would have loved to talk to you," said Moffatt. "She's real proud, but she's sound asleep. There's going to be a lot of that for the next month." Her daughter was supposed to start her summer job as a camp counsellor on Saturday. That will have to wait. Despite the setbacks, her family is fighting to put a positive spin on things. Better it happen now, they said, than when Moffatt starts school at Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Que., this fall. That kind of positive thinking was a focal point of many remarks during last night's graduation ceremony. "We are told the most defining factor of future success is a positive attitude," District 18 Supt. Alex Dingwall told the graduates in his remarks. Guest speaker Raghu Venugopal, a member of Fredericton High School's class of 1992, echoed those sentiments. "Hard work and a positive attitude go a long way," he said. That's all old news to Cain. Cain was born with a birth defect that deteriorated her bones and muscle. When she was only four months old, doctors had to amputate her right leg. She went through her school years well-adjusted, getting around with a prosthetic leg until this year when blinding pain set into her left leg. Two months ago, the pain became so great Cain opted to have it amputated. "I wasn't upset," Cain said. "I was a little scared but I knew it had to be done." Only two weeks after the procedure, the brave young woman returned to school in a wheelchair. "It took a lot of determination," she said, but said she keeps a positive spirit. "I don't let anything bother me," she said. "They (my parents) taught me that I was just like anybody else. And that I should do whatever I thought was right and if people didn't like me, then too bad." She has been accepted into college, but Cain plans to take a year off to spend with her four-month-old daughter Makyla. Later, she said, she'll study health in the hopes of giving back to others some of what health professionals have done for her. Category: News © 2005 The Daily Gleaner - Fredericton. All rights reserved. |
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