Updated

As he received his diploma with his senior class, one Bingham High School student says he feels especially lucky to have reached the milestone.

Nathan Powell’s life changed after a body surfing accident in California.

“On the final day I was there just a few hours before I was supposed to leave I was out body surfing and I caught a really bad wave and it smashed me into the sand,” said Powell.

Doctors didn’t find any serious injuries as a result of Powell’s accident, but they did find something worse; bone cancer.

“They found this tumor, an osceosarcoma, in my face,” he said. “It’s incredibly rare.”

Click for more from Fox 13.