At 6 years old, boy battling cancer set to fulfill dream of graduating high school
At a mere 6 years old, Walter "Superbubz" Herbert is set to graduate Fairfield High School in two days.
For the last two years, Superbubz has spent more time in the hospital than in the classroom. He has stage 4 cancer.
One of his final wishes was to finish school, so teachers banded together to make his wish come true, setting him on a course to graduate at an accelerated pace.
He started Thursday as a second-grader at Central Elementary. He finished the day as an incoming high school freshman.
Walter graduated grades second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth in a matter of hours.
Karri Gallo, principal of Fairfield Central Elementary School, said Walter was more than ready to begin.
“When he came on that first day, he was right on that front seat of the bus. He is waving to me and I am waving to him, and he is just all smiles,” Gallo said. “He walked into second grade and he saw his sister. He got to go into his sister's class. He also got to see Miss Eichhold, who was his kindergarten teacher who switched over to second grade. He was as happy as can be when he got to go to second grade.”
Kim Eichhold, Herbert’s teacher, knows him well. She even used to teach him at home.
“When he first got here, he wrote in his agenda, which is a big thing for first grade. Stuff like that for the beginning of the school year,” Eichhold said. “I actually had Walter in kindergarten. For the first, like, the three fourths of the year, we did home tutoring. He was not able to come to school then. Fortunately, he was able to come for the last little bit. For that last month, that was fantastic.”
Grade by grade, Walter sat patiently and watched carefully, excited to get to the next level.
“He is spunky! He is full of energy all the time. His smile is my favorite part. I love seeing him smile. He has the best smile,” Eichhold said, with tear-filled eyes.
Walter continued to knock each grade out one at a time, with Gallo by his side.
“We’ve talked as I have gone from class to class and let him just see it from an outside perspective. We talked about how big the chairs get as you get older, how big the kids get as they get older,” Gallo said. “As he went through each classroom, he got more and more tired, so he slept through fifth-grade. Which is totally OK! When he was in fourth-grade, I asked him if he wanted to stop, or if he wanted to go to fifth-grade, and he said he'd go to fifth-grade and take a nap!"
Watson insisted on pressing on throughout the day.
“He doesn't quit, does he? He just keeps persevering. He is a true hero,” Gallo said. "Tomorrow, he will have this cap and gown that I was able to order for him. It is just absolutely perfect.”
His friends, family and school are excited to see him cross the finish line.
“I think I would tell him just to fly free, just grow your wings and fly free,” Gallo said.
Walter will graduate from high school on Friday.