YORKTOWN, Va. — Nate Lambright loves to play video games like a lot of other teens, but this Grafton High School graduate not only earned a 3.9 GPA, he also had hip surgery last year after 18 years of overcoming one struggle after another.
Lambright was born with Cerebral Palsy, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture, and has been in a wheelchair for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve been in a wheelchair since I was born, because I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy ever since I was born,” said Lambright.
His friends are used to seeing him in a wheelchair, but he set a special goal for his high school graduation.
He dreamed of walking across the stage at his graduation, and started practicing for the special day with a therapist from the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters.
“So, every therapy session for like the past two months, you know, we’ve been grinding, and today was the big day where all our hard work paid off," said Lambright.
On Saturday, as Lambright and the rest of his class were receiving their diplomas after years of hard work, he had his moment.
“All of a sudden the rest of the senior class they stand up...I just hear, ‘Go, Nate, yeah!’ It was really awesome," Lambright said as he recalled the moment he walked across the stage.
"It was unforgettable, the waterworks were just everywhere. I think everyone was crying,” said Kim Lambright, Nate's mom.
Nate's family and friends couldn't help but cheer him on as he accomplished the goal he worked so hard towards.
“I’m even emotional now to get back and watched it. And just like I said, watch the hearts of the students give it their all with him," said Nate's dad, Cliff.
The family hopes that his hard work will help inspire others who have extraordinary challenges.
“We actually ran into a kid leaving CHKD using a walker kind of like Nate used, and he gave him like this big speech like ‘you’ll be doing this one year.’ So, it was good to see how he’s already touched people," said Kim.
Nate and his family wanted to thank CHKD and Grafton High for helping make the special day happen.
Nate plans to attend community college and hopes to become a video game designer.
Congratulations to Nate and all of the other graduates!
