Student with cerebral palsy gets up from wheelchair to walk across stage at graduation [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KNBN) – A South Dakota high school graduate had a special surprise planned for her graduation ceremony.

Ella Swanson has cerebral palsy and typically uses a wheelchair or walker to get around – but she walked across the stage to accept her diploma.

It was a goal that took a lot of planning and physical therapy.

“My classmates and my friends know me with a walker and a wheelchair most of the time, so I just thought, like, one day, like freshman year when we first started high school, that I would want to walk across the stage in crutches and surprise them,” Swanson said.

And surprise them she did. Swanson walked across the stage to cheers from everyone in the audience.

“My best friend, when we ended it all, she ran to me, bawling her eyes out because I did not tell anyone,” Swanson said. “She …