Selma High senior graduates after second bout with leukemia

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- For 18-year-old Gladis Lopez, a day like today deserves limo service.

The Selma High School senior taking off in style Thursday night to her graduation ceremony an accomplishment she feared she would not see.

"I didn't think I was going to make it to this night."

Last year Lopez was diagnosed with leukemia.

It was her second bout with the illness after being diganosed the first time at the age of tweleve.

"It was a struggle, it was really hard, it was a hard journey, you don't really see light till like the very end."

That light was shown back in march, when she received a bone marrow transplant from her three year old brother.

A little boy who lopez says saved her life.

"He was not born the first time that I got diagnosed, but the second time he was already born, and they tested him and he was the only one that matched. I feel like god sent him as a blessing from heaven to me."

A blessing that allowed Lopez to take off her face mask and walk across the stage to accpet her diploma.

Her family, friends and teachers were cheering her on close by.

Principal Mark Babiarz said, "It demonstrates that she was never going to give up, it was in her to begin with. This is her second time with cancer, but again, it's not an obstacle to her."

But tonight, Lopez was cheering for the other 380 graduates, encouraging them in her speech to never give up.

"No one can stop you from achieving your dreams, because not even cancer stopped me from achieving mine! Tough times don't last, but tough people do!"

Lopez says because of her health, she is planning to attend college online.

She tells us she hopes to one day become a lawyer.