Surprise Hospital Ceremony

Published May 29, 2015

It was the shortest, quietest commencement ceremony of the year, but a powerfully meaningful one.

Save for the soft sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance” wafting from a cell-phone speaker, the small crowd of family, friends, and hospital staff waiting in the 6th floor family room at UCI Medical Center was silent, holding its collective breath as 26-year-old Cory Sullivan was wheeled inside.

The group was there to give Sullivan the graduation ceremony that he had missed – the one he would have attended on May 20 if a motorcycle accident two weeks before hadn’t left him paralyzed from the chest down.

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“This is actually the first real diploma of the class of 2015,” CSULB President Jane Conoley said as she passed the black diploma cover to Sullivan. The group of supporters chuckled quietly – smiling through tears, radiating love, nodding knowingly because students are usually handed empty covers and required to wait for the real diploma to arrive in the mail.

“We thought it’d be important to you,” Conoley added as Sullivan wept, his wide brown eyes flickering between expressions of surprise to tears of heavy emotion.

“Proud of you, Cor,” someone called out, as the group applauded. Hospital staff stood nearby holding boxes of tissues.

For Sullivan, walking across the stage was important. So important that according to his mother, Cindy, graduation was the first thing he asked about when he woke up in the hospital.

“I worked so hard and my family didn’t get to see me walk,” Sullivan said. “I was really bummed out that I was missing the walk. This felt pretty amazing.”

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Those who attended the surprise ceremony agree that it’s Sullivan’s pride in hard work and persistence, even in the face of personal difficulty, that makes him special.

Professor Courtney Ahrens, who taught Sullivan in her fieldwork and psychology class, said he touched a lot of people in the class with his positive attitude and “go-get-‘em” spirit.

“Cory had to struggle to find an internship, but whereas other students in my class dropped out, he didn’t,” Ahrens said. “He saw the challenge, he faced it, and he persisted. And he did so with grace, with humor and with optimism that really exceeded anything I normally see in students. I know from what I saw from him this semester that he’s going to take that same humor, optimism, strength and resilience to face the challenges ahead. I’m just so proud to know him.”

Sullivan’s uncle, Scott Stephenson, noted that Sullivan has already made an impact on the nursing staff at the hospital.

“They said they’ve never met a patient who has touched them more,” Stephenson said. “Because even with all he’s been going through – crushed ribs and spine – he’s always kind and thanking them for everything. It’s been really humbling as a family.”

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President Conoley wiped away tears as family and friends formed a line, waiting for their turn to congratulate Sullivan.

“His family coming to us and asking whether or not we can do it was such a gift to us,” she said. “I’ve been to many commencements over the years, but this is the most moving.”

Sullivan said that his goal for the future is to become a marriage and family therapist or a clinical psychologist. His mother said she would continue to encourage him toward his dreams.

“My graduation wish for him? To go on to grad school. He really wanted to go to grad school and I just want him to be able to do that,” she said.