Students sign coffin of classmate who passed away, make it the yearbook she never had

[Students turned Laura Hillier’s casket into a yearbook signature page/Imgur/unbrella]

A 18-year-old Canadian in her last year of high school who passed away from acute myeloid leukemia received a moving tribute befitting a high school senior.

Laura Hillier had been battling the disease for years when she finally died on January 20, before she could graduate from high school, reports Mashable. At her funeral, Hillier’s white coffin was completely covered in handwritten messages from her classmates, final words of love for a young woman who never had the chance to receive those messages in her senior high school yearbook.

A quote from Hillier herself spans the front of the coffin:

“Life is a song…sing it ’til your heart’s content.”

The messages from friends echo what might have been written in her yearbook, but the fact that they are written in the past tense exposes their gravity.

Writes one friend:

“You were musical.

You were artistic.

You were understanding.

You were my bestest friend.”

Hillier had been waiting for years for a donor match so that she could receive a life-saving stem cell transplant, reports CTV News. That match became available in July of last year, but a shortage of hospital beds meant that her treatment was delayed.

Hillier’s parents scoured the country looking for a hospital with space, but found waiting lists everywhere. The family was vocal about their search, appearing on television and using social media to get the word out. In the meantime, Hillier was given chemotherapy to keep her cancer in remission.

Her obituary references this life-altering waiting period:

“In Laura’s last year with us, she was determined to bring public attention to the problem of deadly wait times for stem cell transplants in Ontario and across Canada.”

In August a bed finally became available and Hillier received the long-awaited transplant.

Unfortunately, her cancer returned in November of last year and she eventually passed away on January 20.

Looking at the photos of the coffin posted to Imgur by her friends, it’s clear that Hillier was loved and that she will be greatly missed.

Donations in her name can be made to Coast to Coast, a charity that works to fight childhood cancers.