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Teacher battling cancer moved to tears when students surprise her with touching song

Posted at 2:51 PM, Jul 24, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-24 14:54:20-04

NEW YORK — A chorus of 5th graders song of support for a teacher battling cancer has gone viral.

“When you’re weak, I’ll be strong. When you let go, I’ll hold on,” the children sang in a rendition of Martina McBride’s “I’m Gonna Love You Through It.” “When you feel lost, scared to death, like you can’t take one more step, just take my hand, together we can do it.”

Teacher Adriana Lopez, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, sat in the bleacher wiping tears away while the children serenaded her in June. The video went viral after it was posted to You Tube this week. The performance has more than 1.7 million views on YouTube.

“I want to thank you for this special moment, it was wonderful,” Lopez said. “And it’s not easy, but I will get through it because I have wonderful friends at this school.”

Video of the performance made it back to the song’s original singer, Martina McBride, who tweeted out a message of thanks and love to the school chorus and Adriana Lopez.

The PS22 Chorus, directed by Gregg Breinberg, describes themselves as “an ever-changing group of 5th graders from a public elementary school in Staten Island, New York. PS22 is NOT a school for the arts,. and the chorus is not a magnet program. PS22 Chorus just features ordinary children achieving extraordinary accomplishments — musically and otherwise.”