KALAMAZOO, MI -- For Yeatise Gaines, graduating from high school was a race with time -- and a race she ultimately won.

Yeatise Gaines

Last week, the 17-year-old Kalamazoo Central High School's health was fading fast, after recurrent bouts of cancer. It became clear Yeatise was unlikely to survived until the school's commencement on June 4.

So Wednesday, May 14, Kalamazoo Central Principal Valerie Boggan and several other faculty members made the trip to Yeatise's hospital room to present her with a cap and gown and a certificate of completion.

About 20 of Yeatise's family members attended the ad hoc graduation ceremony.

"It was her dream to graduate high school, and she did," Boggan said. "For her family, it wasn't sad. They were celebrating.

"It's something I'll never forget," Boggan said.

Yeatise died the next day.

Family, friends and the Kalamazoo Central community are now mourning the death of a young woman described as beautiful, talented, smart and an inspiration to everyone around her.

"She was just amazing," said Yeatise's mother, Santasha Gaines.

Her accomplishments were particularly remarkable, considering her long-standing health problems.

Gaines said that Yeatise was 18 months old when she was first diagnosed with a type of cancer that affects the bones and muscles. She had reocurrences of the cancer at ages 2, 8 and 12.

But the treatments that put the cancer into remission also compromised her health. She had at least 10 surgeries over the years, and one point, Yeatise spent four years on crutches and had severe back pain, Gaines said.

Radiation treatments damaged her lungs -- and, in fact, that was what eventually killed her, her mother said. "Her lungs failed on her."

"Her health was always bad," Gaines said. "She was always in pain.

Despite that, Gaines and Kalamazoo Central staff described Yeatise as unfailingly cheerful, a young woman who always had a smile on her face and was determined to make the most of her life.

"She was always happy, not matter what happened," Gaines said.

She loved poetry, and wrote verse every day. She had a special relationship with Vanessa Brower, her sophomore English teacher, visiting her often and last year taught a lesson on poetry to Brower's freshman English class.

"For her, education was No. 1," Brower said. "She always went above and beyond."

Ruby Sledge, a Kalamazoo teacher who works with homebound students, was Yeatise's tutor when she was too ill to attend school.

"She was a very focused young lady," Sledge said. "She took school very seriously. She always completed her work and had that drive to do well."

But even more impressive than her academic accomplishments, Sledge said, was her attitude.

"I never heard her complain," Sledge said. "I would give her an A plus on attitude. ... It was a bright part of my day when I got to spend time with her.

In that regard, "this was a case where the teacher learned from the student," Sledge said.

"What she taught me was that you run the race that is set before you, and you do it with grace and perseverance and a good attitude. That's what she did, and that's what I learned from her.

"I'm really, really going to miss her," Sledge said.

Boggan said that K-Central students are thinking of how to honor Yeatise at commencement. Also, the Kalamazoo Central team in the Relay for Life of Kalamazoo County fundraiser on May 30 are dedicating this year's effort in Yeatise's memory and will do a special lap in her memory, Boggan said.

"She was an inspiration," Boggan said. "She never gave up."

"She was strong to the extreme," Gaines agreed. "She was a young lady who was outstanding in whatever she did."

Besides her mother, Yeatise is survived by her father, Willie, and eight siblings: Ti-Kiyah, Alaeyah, Escobar, NaQuariah, Caithen, Ava and Willie III Gaines and De-Allen Williams.

Visitation will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, May 23, at the Whitley Funeral Home, 330 N. Westnedge Ave., Kalamazoo.

Memorial services will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at Second Baptist Church, 609 N. Rose St., Kalamazoo. The service will be preceded by a family hour starting at noon.

Julie Mack covers K-12 education and writes a column for Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at jmack1@mlive.com, call her at 269-350-0277 or follow her on Twitter at kzjuliemack.