A community is in mourning following the tragic death of an 18-year-old high school student who collapsed during her graduation ceremony.

Sienna Stewart, who underwent a transplant eleven years ago, was diagnosed with heart failure in April. She had been living with severe cardiomyopathy since the age of four, and her health began to decline earlier this year.

Despite her challenges, Sienna managed to lead a relatively normal life for a decade after her transplant. However, she started to experience increasing weakness and fatigue in recent months.

Her mother, Saevon Chum, revealed that Sienna occasionally lost consciousness, with one such incident occurring on Thursday, May 23, 2024, during her graduation ceremony.

In a video shared by the school, the principal can be heard urgently requesting assistance, stating, “Just give us a second, please, we have a student, just give us a second.” When Saevon arrived, she found her daughter receiving medical attention from paramedics. She recounted, “When I got there, the ambulance was already there. She had collapsed. She had had another episode. But this was the first time she collapsed unconscious.”

After a brief period, Sienna regained consciousness and chose to attend her ceremony instead of going to the hospital.

“All she could tell me is, ‘I just want to graduate, I want to walk.’ That’s all she wanted, because she already missed her prom, as she had been hospitalized and missed her senior prom,” Saevon shared.

Tragically, just weeks after receiving her diploma, Sienna passed away on June 12th. “As a mom, you feel so proud because she just fought through something that hurt her. You have to be proud. Till the end, I was proud,” Saevon expressed.

Sienna’s obituary noted that she was set to pursue a degree in ultrasound technology at a college in the fall.