A BIRMINGHAM City University alumnus who had to pull out of his graduation ceremony 10 years ago has finally crossed the stage this week along with this summer’s graduates.

Ed O’Driscoll, from Ross-on-Wye, completed an MA in social media in 2015, but was unable to attend his graduation ceremony, after his father passed away on the very day that he was due to graduate.

Mr O’Driscoll said: “In 2015, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Sadly, the illness progressed very quickly. He was very interested in my decision to return to education as a mature student, and I remember we discussed the date of my graduation as he was hoping to attend.

“Sadly, the last few weeks of his life he had to be heavily sedated, but there has always been a part of me that believed he held on for as long as he did because he had my graduation date in his head. He died the day I was supposed to attend.”

Ten years on from the devastating time in Ed’s life, he has finally been able to celebrate his achievements at a graduation ceremony for students from arts, design and media courses.

He said: “Ten years on from that sad time, I think it’s a lovely tribute to his memory that I’ve finally been able to collect my award. I like to think he’d be proud.

“My study at the university was something of a watershed moment in my professional career as studying social media gave me a range of transferable skills that have helped me enormously across a range of interests in my personal as well as my working life.

“To be able to graduate is an act of remembrance for my father but also a celebration of what I’ve achieved in subsequent years.”