Exclusive: Addison Conely, battling terminal cancer, gets special graduation ceremony from Chino Hills High School
The Chino Hills community held a special cap and gown ceremony for a high school senior who kept up her studies, while courageously battling cancer.
The special commencement for Addison Conely was held three months ahead of graduation.
"It wasn't important to me before cancer, but seeing another milestone I went through after being able to fight all of this, I got to finish it," Conely said.
Last June, Conely was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She was getting better, but on March 10, things took a turn for the worse.
"We were told that the cancer was back and that was it wasn't going to be treatable this time," Chris Conely, Addison's father, said.
Doctors told the Conely family she only had weeks, at most a few months, to live. Addison's bucket list became more urgent than ever.
In the last few weeks, she's gone off-roading, got a Malteepoo puppy and now she's graduated early from high school, but that's not it.
"Once we found out how much time she had left, we decided let's do it, and we planned a wedding in two weeks," Sebastian Snitily, Addison's fiancé said.
She and her longtime friend turned boyfriend turned fiancé will tie the knot next Wednesday.
"This of course was our plan, to be married to the love of her life years down the road," said Staci Berry-Conely, Addison's stepmother, "but then when you're told you have a couple months, it's our job as parents to support her in every aspect, in every that she desires and that is where your heart is."
Conely's sudden diagnosis changed the course of her life dramatically. Her mission now is to pay it forward by starting an organization that gives colorful sheets and blankets to childhood cancer patients.
"It makes the room a lot better than these white and blue sheets that everyone has."
Conely hopes each child going through the toughest battle of their life feels special and loved just the way she feels, thanks to the support of her friends and family.
