Battling ALS, Father Emotionally Surprises Son At Basic Training Graduation

Frankie Christy Sanchez/ Facebook

One man proved that a father’s love is perhaps the most powerful motivation, keeping his emotional promise to his graduating soldier despite his heartbreaking battle with ALS. Frankie Sanchez refused to let his life-changing diagnosis prompt him to miss his son’s graduation from Air Force basic training. However, when Sanchez wound up in the emergency room the night before the highly anticipated day, the outcome seemed bleak. 

After the father’s breathing machine ceased to function, Sanchez’s doctor assured him that leaving the facility without a working apparatus was a sure road to death. Heartbroken, the family prayed for a miracle.

It was the next morning that their pleas for help were answered, as a brand new breathing machine was given to Sanchez just in time to dart out and attend his son’s graduation. The father had formerly promised his son that he would “tap him out”, a tradition in which airmen stand posed until a family member taps them to release their stand of attention. 

The father and son were brimming with emotion when they were finally reunited after seven weeks of separation. Sanchez used every ounce of strength to walk alone to his son and fulfill the promise, prompting the once stoic man to wrap his arms around his father in gratitude and pride. 

You can watch the emotional moment below.