A Texas high school valedictorian who delivered a tearjerking speech against the backdrop of burying his father earlier that morning said he summoned the strength to keep going as he looked out over the crowd and saw how his words had touched everyone.

“I didn’t know if I even had the strength to do it. I was up there talking about my dad, and at any time I could have just I could have [stopped]. I wanted to stop, but I looked in the audience and I saw people listening to what I was saying and really taking it in and relating to me, getting touched by the words that were coming out of my mouth, and that’s what really kept me going. That’s what pushed me to finish my speech,” Alem Hadzic, the graduate behind the moving moment, said Sunday on the Fox News Channel.

The 18-year-old graduate lost his father, Miralem, to cancer on May 15, just one day before the ceremony at Early College High School in a community just north of Dallas. 

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Standing before the crowd of peers and their loved ones, he wore the same muddied shoes he wore as he carried his father to his grave during his burial earlier that morning.

“I wrote the speech the morning before [the graduation ceremony], which is the morning he died. That was before I even knew that his funeral would be the next day,” he told “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Will Cain. 

“So I knew I was going to talk about him,” he said. “I didn’t know that I was going to be burying him right before I gave the speech.”

Behind the podium, he told his peers his arms were shaking from carrying the casket, and that his father’s wish for him to achieve all of his goals gave him the determination to go to college and do just that.

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Alem Hadzic told Will Cain more about the backstory behind his moving graduation speech. (Fox & Friends Weekend/Screengrab)

“That’s why I’m going to go to college, and I’m going to spend every hour of every day working as hard as I can to achieve all of my goals, because that’s what he wanted, and I want to do it for him,” he told the crowd. 

His original script mentioned his father’s death, but many of his words came on the spot, without any preparation.

“The part about the funeral, the part about me burying him and the ending, that was all added later. That wasn’t in the script. That was in the moment. That was from the heart,” he explained.

His speech received a standing ovation and praise from friends. It later went viral, garnering attention across media outlets as a heartwarming and uplifting message about family, strength  and perseverance.

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“My takeaway is that anything I accomplish, I’m going to do it for my family, because they truly are the ones that have always been there for me and will keep being there for me,” he said to conclude the segment on Sunday.

“So I’m going to keep working hard. Like I said in my speech, I’m going to do it for my mom and my sister, and I’m going to do it for my dad.”

Hadzic plans to enroll at the University of Texas in the fall, where he will study chemical engineering, according to PEOPLE.

A 15-year-old boy in Arizona was saved by his brother after a black bear attacked him in a bunkhouse last week.

Carol Hawkins, the mother of attack victim Brigham Hawkins, spoke with FOX 10 Phoenix about the traumatic incident. According to the Arizona Fish & Game Department, the attack took place on Thursday.

The incident happened while the teenager was watching television in the family’s bunkhouse in Alpine, Arizona. The rest of the family was in a cabin twenty feet away, according to FOX 10.

“The bear came into the cabin and from behind the couch, from what we were piecing together, swatted at him and scratched his face,” Carol explained.

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Brigham’s 18-year-old brother, Parker, heard the commotion and rushed to the bunkhouse. The mother told FOX 10 that, since Brigham has a rare genetic disorder, his siblings are used to looking out for him.

“He started screaming but [Parker] could barely hear him, so he went to go check on him and he thought it was a dog. He thought it was a really large dog,” Carol explained.

When Parker arrived, the three-year-old bear suddenly diverted its attention to the older brother.

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The Hawkins family regularly goes on camping trips to Alpine, Arizona. (Carol Hawkins via FOX 10 Phoenix)

“When he got there, the bear turned around and saw him and started chasing him,” Carol added.

Brigham’s dad helped him escape while Parker distracted the bear. The teen is still being medically treated after suffering cuts on his arms and face, and the bear was later caught and euthanized by officials.

“No matter what you do, bad things can happen,” the grateful mother said. “I just feel blessed that things worked out the way they did. I really don’t feel like it’s luck, it’s a blessing.”

Although black bears are significantly less likely to attack humans than brown bears and polar bears are, officials warn that such attacks are still possible.

An undated photo of children in the Hawkins family on a camping trip. (Carol Hawkins via FOX 10 Phoenix)

In June 2023, a Tucscon, Arizona, resident was mauled to death by a black bear while drinking coffee on his property.

“Black bears are predatory animals and should always be considered unpredictable and dangerous,” the Arizona Fish & Game Department said on Facebook Friday. “If you are headed outdoors this weekend, please be aware of your surroundings and secure your food.”

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