MAUMELLE, Ark. — Maumelle senior Harvey Shelton graduated all entirely on his own on Monday due to the fact that he missed his actual ceremony over the weekend.
The teen was on his way to his graduation last Saturday — that's when he got into an extremely scary car accident — pinning his car under an 18-wheeler.
Shelton walked away from the accident with dozens of stitches, along with gratitude for a complete stranger who stopped to keep the teen calm until more help arrived at the scene.
"[I] reached my hand out to yell for help and he grabbed me and just said 'I'm here praying for you, just keep talking to me, deep breaths and [help's] going to be here real soon,'" Shelton said.
That good Samaritan was named Darrell. Donning a blue shirt on Monday, he was able to go to Maumelle and watch the special ceremony.
"I think that for [Harvey] and for us, it was definitely a wake up call to life. It is not promised. He got another chance," Shelton's family said.
Shelton still has some more healing to do, but plans to enter the military and attend college at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
While it may not have looked like your typical high school graduation, Monday morning's ceremony at Maumelle High School will always be one to remember.
