LUMBERTON — It was nearly a decade ago that Deonte Scott was saved from drowning by then-married couple Justin Stoyer and Tracy Davis.

Those memories came flooding back Saturday as the two watched Scott walk across the stage in the Lumberton High School gymnasium to collect his high school diploma.

“I was sitting there thinking, gosh if we had left there five minutes earlier from the pool, he wouldn’t have walked across the stage today. I’m so proud of him,” Davis said Saturday while on the verge of tears.

The incident happened in 2012 when Scott was just 9 years old. His mother, Nacarsha Taylor, and aunt Shaqulia Bowens had decided on a whim to take Deonte and about a dozen of his cousins to the pool at the Sleepy Bear RV Park in Lumberton.

As time progressed, the family noticed Scott missing and found his lifeless body floating in the water, causing the Stoyers, who were also visiting the site to jump into action. Justin pulled Scott from the pool and began performing respiration while Tracy performed chest compressions until life was brought back to Scott.

Deonte was taken by ambulance to Southeastern Regional Medical Center, and was later transferred to Cape Fear Valley hospital for continued oxygen therapy. He was released the next day.

On that day, the families developed a connection that has yet to be broken. Now divorced, Stoyer, who lives in Pennsylvania; and Davis, a Virginia resident, felt it was a no-brainer to travel back to Lumberton to watch Scott reach an educational milestone.

“I don’t have kids, so he’s like my adopted son,” Davis said.

“He’ll forever hold a piece of my heart,” Stoyer said. “No matter where he goes, we’re always going to try to keep in contact and do what I can to just follow him and make sure he’s successful.”

Scott’s next step is to attend Robeson Community College.

“Without them, this probably wouldn’t have happened,” Scott said while holding up his diploma. “It feels good. I didn’t think I would make it this far.

Scott was among 428 Lumberton graduates who gathered for the postponed commencement. During the ceremony, graduates heard from Senior Class President Zoe Paige Hall, who spoke about finding the light, and Student Government Association President August Renee’ Smith, whose speech was about pursuing goals with a purpose.”

“No matter what questions this year asks of you, no matter what questions you have when you leave graduation today, approach every new challenge you face with a determination to find your new purpose,” Smith said. “A path walked with determined purpose is a path that cuts through doubt.”

Before declaring members of the senior class graduates, Lumberton High School Principal Larry Brooks left students with a parting message.

“No one knows how much time they have left on this earth,” he said. “Class of 2021, your time is now. Go out, dream big, accomplish your dreams and show ‘em all what Pirate Nation is all about and spend every second of your life to the fullest because you’ll never get a second of it back.”

At the same time in Pembroke, Purnell Swett High School seniors were praised for what they overcame in the past four years, and were given the keys to success in life.

“You endured Hurricane Matthew; as sophomores, you endured hurricane Florence; and today this never-ending COVID-19 pandemic,” Principal Clyde Leviner said. “‘Change is good but I believe enough is enough. I’m about sick of COVID-19.”

Words could not erase or make up for what the students have missed out on, Leviner said.

“However, I believe these trials will make you stronger than ever before. I have learned that it’s the struggles in life that make you strong, as long as you learn from them,” he said. “You have to be strong enough to figure out what it takes to hold on, survive and overcome the obstacles in life.”

Leviner left graduates with a story about a donkey that fell in a well. Because the donkey was old his owner, a farmer, decided to give up on the animal and bury him in the well instead of pulling him out. But every pile of dirt shoveled onto the donkey was shaken off and used as a stepping stone.

“Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt, in a attempt to bury you,” the principal said. “The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles are a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up, shake it off and take a step up. I believe that your presence here today is a witness to that. COVID-19 is the dirt you have shook off, and you have took a step up and that’s why you’re here today.”