RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - For many VCU students, Saturday’s graduation will mark their first time walking across the stage. But for Demond Middleton II, it will be his second.

Middleton accepted his mother Kristy’s diploma just weeks after she passed away from sickle cell anemia in November 2019.

“I would have done her a disservice if I didn’t honor her in that way and carry her work to the finish line. And to be able to honor her in that way it was just so intimate and to this day is something I can’t believe that I did,” Middleton said.

He recalls waking up in the middle of the night and seeing his mother doing school work while he and his brother slept.

“I would just see her have her glasses on, locked in, just writing her notes, testing herself, if she didn’t get it, she’d start again

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