In May 2025, students at Yilong No. 1 Middle School in Sichuan, China, were preparing for one of the last photographs they would take together before graduation.
But one person was missing.
Their 15-year-old classmate Ren Junjie had been away from school while battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. By then, his condition had become so serious that he was bedridden in hospital, dependent on oxygen and too weak to return to school.
Ren still wanted one thing.
A graduation photo with his classmates.
So his classmates decided he wouldn't have to come to them.
On May 17, more than 60 students put on their green-and-white school uniforms and walked more than two kilometres from their school to the hospital. They even carried the benches they needed for the photograph.
Participation was voluntary.
Not one student from Ren's class stayed behind.
At the hospital, Ren was dressed in his school uniform while remaining in bed. Six of his classmates helped wheel him outside, where everyone had arranged themselves for the photograph.
They left one space open in the middle.
That was Ren's place.
His hospital bed was positioned among them, and despite being extremely weak and wearing an oxygen mask, Ren tried to lift his head and smile for the camera.
His classmates also brought handwritten letters and a basketball covered with their signatures, leaving him messages of encouragement and telling him they hoped he would return to their class one day.
They couldn't have known how little time remained.
At around 4 a.m. the following morning, May 18, Ren's condition deteriorated.
He died from his illness, roughly 12 hours after taking the photograph.
The graduation picture his classmates had walked more than two kilometres to give him became the last photograph they would ever take together.
Ren never made it back to his classroom.
But when his class gathered for one final photo, they made sure his place among them wasn't empty.
But one person was missing.
Their 15-year-old classmate Ren Junjie had been away from school while battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. By then, his condition had become so serious that he was bedridden in hospital, dependent on oxygen and too weak to return to school.
Ren still wanted one thing.
A graduation photo with his classmates.
So his classmates decided he wouldn't have to come to them.
On May 17, more than 60 students put on their green-and-white school uniforms and walked more than two kilometres from their school to the hospital. They even carried the benches they needed for the photograph.
Participation was voluntary.
Not one student from Ren's class stayed behind.
At the hospital, Ren was dressed in his school uniform while remaining in bed. Six of his classmates helped wheel him outside, where everyone had arranged themselves for the photograph.
They left one space open in the middle.
That was Ren's place.
His hospital bed was positioned among them, and despite being extremely weak and wearing an oxygen mask, Ren tried to lift his head and smile for the camera.
His classmates also brought handwritten letters and a basketball covered with their signatures, leaving him messages of encouragement and telling him they hoped he would return to their class one day.
They couldn't have known how little time remained.
At around 4 a.m. the following morning, May 18, Ren's condition deteriorated.
He died from his illness, roughly 12 hours after taking the photograph.
The graduation picture his classmates had walked more than two kilometres to give him became the last photograph they would ever take together.
Ren never made it back to his classroom.
But when his class gathered for one final photo, they made sure his place among them wasn't empty.