Teen Tragically Passes Away After Collapsing At High School Graduation

A teenager tragically passed away after collapsing at her high school graduation ceremony.

Sienna Stewart, 18, was participating in her graduation at Hiram High School in Georgia when she suddenly fell unconscious during the event.

After the incident, Sienna regained consciousness and insisted to her mother that she be allowed to walk across the stage.

In photos from the ceremony, she is seen smiling and shaking hands with a school official.

Sienna Stewart asked her mom if she could walk on stage FOX5

However, just weeks after the graduation, Sienna's mother, Saevon Chum, confirmed that her daughter had passed away following a second collapse.

Saevon shared that Sienna was diagnosed with severe cardiomyopathy when she was just four years old.

Sienna received a heart transplant at the age of eight, but this April, she faced a diagnosis of heart failure.

"Her heart transplant heart was getting sick. It was getting weak and slowing down," Saevon explained. 

This weakening was what led to her daughter's distress at the graduation ceremony. 

Saevon recalled the day of the ceremony, saying, "When I got there, the ambulance was already there. 

"She had collapsed. She had had another episode. But this was the first time she collapsed unconscious."

Despite the collapse, Sienna was determined to participate in her graduation.

"All she could tell me is, ‘I just want to graduate, I want to walk.' That's all she wanted, because she already missed her prom, because before then she was in the hospital and missed her senior prom," her mother recounted.

Sadly, just two weeks after the ceremony, Sienna collapsed again.

"You’re just holding your daughter, your child, and you have to make that 911 call not knowing if your daughter's going to wake up or not," Saevon expressed.

A few days following this incident, Sienna passed away in the hospital.

"They asked if I’d known that she'd had a sick heart for a while. I say ‘yes,’ but you know, you're never going to be ready to lose your child," Saevon continued. 

"As a mom, you feel so proud because she just fought through something that hurts her. You have to be proud. Till the end, I was proud."

Sienna was determined to graduate FOX5

In response to this heartbreaking loss, a GoFundMe has been established to support Sienna's family. It has already raised over $10,000.

The GoFundMe page describes Sienna vividly: "On June 12, 2024, we lost our baby girl Sienna Chum Stewart. 

"Sienna, who had just turned 18 a couple of weeks prior, was a vibrant young woman who fought hard and daily for the last 18 years nonstop. 

"If you knew anything about SiSi her laughs were contagious, her smile was always on display, and her energy was unmatched. She was truly 1/1. (inside joke for her friends)."

The page goes on to say:

Sienna's mom explained her daughter had passed away a couple of weeks after the ceremony FOX5

"She was a bright light with a bubbly personality that could lift anyone's spirits. 

"Her kindness and warmth touched everyone who knew her, and her story would inspire those who didn’t.

"Sienna had just graduated from Hiram High in May, planning to attend college in the Fall. SiSi leaves behind her two older siblings & mommy."