When chronic illness held Jahquae Richardson back from graduating alongside her peers at CedarBridge Academy, the 17-year-old set out to complete high school by herself.

Touched by her example of strength, Jahquae’s family rallied last Friday to surprise her with a graduation ceremony all of her own.

But a further surprise lay in store, according to her mother, Jimika Astwood, who has watched her daughter fight through a lifetime with cystic fibrosis.

“I didn’t think anybody would be affected, but a lot of people reached out to me,” she said.

“People said, ‘It shows my daughter or my son that it can be done’, which was very touching to see. It’s an avenue to show other children not to give up.”

Jahquae’s illness, an incurable genetic disorder, was diagnosed when she was an infant.

Cystic fibrosis is “life threatening”, Jahquae said, caused by a glitch in her body’s proteins that leads to a build-up of mucus around her organs, causing infections, especially in her lungs.

“It hurts when it flares up, and I am supposed to go away every three months to the hospital,” she explained.

Late last year her oxygen levels plummeted, and she had to be airlifted for treatment. Jahquae missed so much of senior year that she could not graduate.

“It became overwhelming,” her mother said. “But she found an alternative. I told her before she dropped out of CedarBridge to make sure she had a plan to graduate.”

Jahquae did exactly that, finding “something more flexible” at the Adult Education Centre, she said. “It wasn’t easy,” she added — but she passed her GED, although her last exam came after the graduation ceremony.

“She just wished she would have been able to take part,” Ms Astwood told The Royal Gazette.

“I was talking to my family and my cousin Shakhai Trott said, ‘That’s it; we’re having a graduation for her — we’re going to do this’.”

Keeping the ceremony a surprise was no easy task, especially for her 11-year-old brother, Aquiyei Richardson.

Ms Astwood’s cousin Shaquille came up with the purple cap and gown; another cousin, Jasmine Hendrickson, agreed to sing, and her aunt and uncle Stacey and Winston Trott hosted the graduation at their house, with the rest of the family pitching in. Jahquae’s best friends Indira and Zitori came along for what was said to be a family dinner.

But they arrived at the Spanish Point residence on June 30 to find an aisle of chairs, the appropriate music playing, and graduation pictures and tags printed up by Ms Astwood’s grandmother, Kim Bell, while her aunt Karmeta Hendrickson had printed up a diploma for Aquiyei to present to her.

“I saw my cap and gown, my picture hanging up, and I didn’t realise it was for me,” Jahquae said. “I cried; it was so emotional.”

Ms Astwood added: “Afterwards we cut her cake and sat by the water and just had family time, which is something we always do.”

Keen on biology and maths, Jahquae has her sights set on becoming a paediatric nurse. She has been accepted into Bermuda College, and plans to finish her studies in Britain.

The occasion has been especially poignant as the children’s father, Aquil Richardson, was murdered on Boxing Day in 2007, and her little brother had a close medical call of his own, nearly dying from kidney failure.

“We have had to come through a lot of adversity,” Ms Astwood said.

Saying she wanted to give “a shout-out to my support system”, Jahquae and her family have apologised in advance, as does The Royal Gazette, for any names missing.

Heartfelt thanks go to godparents Jahcai Morris, Sacha Butterfield, Devika Bourne, Felicia Musson and Dani’elle Hayward, as well as Gavin O’Connor, Vernae Outerbridge, James Tweed, Crystal Hall, Joanna Hendrickson and Larry Richardson.