Anies Garcia graduated from Pioneer High School on Thursday, nearly a decade after undergoing a massive operation: A heart and kidney transplant.
Garcia has been in and out of the hospital since the operation at UCLA Medical Center in 2002. She was being checked out by a doctor just days before putting on her cap and gown.
"I told the doctor, you better hurry up and get me out of here so I can graduate," said Garcia.
At the time of her double transplant, Garcia was the second youngest person to undergo such a procedure.