‘Full of gratitude, feeling blessed’: Emotional graduation for local teen who survived traumatic childhood event

A South Florida teen has overcome a childhood tragedy to turn the tassel and celebrate an emotional high school graduation Isaiah Gates and his family were overwhelmed by emotion Wednesday as he walked the stage to accept his diploma from Miami Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School in Northwest Miami-Dade The teen survived a traumatic experience when he was younger overcoming the odds of survival and now turning the page for the next chapter in his life My why is different than other students Isaiah declared In when Isaiah was he went to Albany Georgia to visit his grandmother with his -year-old sister Zykaria and -year-old cousin Jaylan Isaiah s grandmother was unknowingly suffering from a mental illness and after she ran out of her medication she attacked Isaiah with a knife and locked him inside of the trunk of a car to die Isaiah s sister and cousin were killed and his grandmother set the house on fire Isaiah was the only survivor He announced he reached this graduation not just for himself but for his sister She won t be able to walk across the stage like I m doing She won t be able to graduate from college in four years like I m going to he announced Isaiah overcame more than most of could imagine leaning on his faith and a pastor the Rev Nathaniel Robinson III who helped guide him to this moment It s a blessing to see him fight through It s been something that s been encouraging to me and has helped me to know that we can make a larger impact on even more people Robinson reported Nine years after surviving an unthinkable horror Isaiah graduated from his high school with a GPA and was accepted into more than colleges He also received a combined million in scholarship offers His mother Eisha Brown reported this moment is everything for them It s so emotional you know he couldn t have been here right now It s so emotional I m so proud she declared His grandfather was too emotional for words Overwhelming I m just so proud he noted As his name was called Isaiah walked across the stage and accepted the diploma with his sister and cousin watching on in spirit They re right here with me in my heart and in spirit I know they re watching down showing joy proud of me he declared Isaiah noted he hopes his story will inspire others to achieve their dreams Full of gratitude feeling lucky he revealed Now that he s accomplished this major milestone Isaiah is looking to move on to the next one He announced he plans to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta where he will investigation political science