OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Not often does one attend a college graduation at a hospital, but a University of Central Missouri graduate decided to bring his ceremony to St. Luke’s Friday afternoon.
For 22-year-old Jack LeVota, he needed one special person in the audience.
“My mom’s been working to get me to this point and checking out my grades and all these other things growing up,” said Jack LeVota. “I’m just happy that I can finally look at her and say that ‘I’m done’ and all that work that she did, all those fights that she had with me, were absolutely worth it.”
It is his mother’s love that Jack LeVota missed most as he finished his last semester in school. His mother was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, often pulling her away from the things she loves most.
“She’s just always instilled good morals and good values in me that has kind of set me up into the person that I am today. And that impact she’s had on me, I can never repay her for it,” said Jack LeVota.
When it came time for graduation, Jack LeVota refused to walk across the stage without his mother watching. It was his idea to bring his ceremony to her.
“It was really hard on her, just because family is the biggest thing to her,” said Jack’s sister, Audrey LeVota. “Being able to celebrate this with Jack means everything to her. I can’t imagine her missing a day as important (as) this.”
While the journey to recovery will be anything but easy, the family says there has been a silver lining in all the hardship — each other.
“We’ve been spending more time than we ever have in the past three months fighting this terrible disease. We’re in it together and we’re gonna beat this thing,” said Jack’s father, Steve LeVota.
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