“Somebody, please cue the church praise music as Bridgette takes a lap around the room.”
That was William O’Neal’s joyful reaction after his daughter, Kenadee Alexandria O’Neal, surprised her parents with the news that she had been accepted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heersink School of Medicine. Kenadee captured the moment secretly in a TikTok video.
@kenadeeoneal They thought I wanted their opinions on my makeup… Little did they know I was about to tell them that I’m going to be a doctor. 🩺 So thankful for all of the sacrifices they made to help me get here. All honor and glory to God. 🤍 #RNtoMD #MedSchool #DoctorTok #FutureDoctor #MedicalSchoolAcceptance ♬ original sound – Kenadee
“We give God the GLORY,” he wrote in a Facebook post celebrating the moment.
The emotional TikTok video has drawn more than 206,000 likes, but behind the celebration is a story of faith, family and perseverance that began years before O’Neal ever submitted a medical school application.
In an earlier TikTok documenting her journey, O’Neal explained that her calling to medicine was shaped by personal experiences that began in childhood.
She said her older brother has cystic fibrosis, and growing up she spent countless hours visiting him in hospitals. Watching nurses care not only for her brother but also for her entire family left a lasting impression.
“I absolutely fell in love with healthcare,” O’Neal said. “Those nurses became my role models.”
Her desire to serve others deepened when she was in the third grade and her mother was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. Once again, she watched healthcare professionals guide her family through an uncertain season with compassion and kindness.
O’Neal also shared that another influence was shaping her life during those years. When she was in first grade, her father followed in her grandfather’s footsteps and became a pastor, teaching her that serving others was more than a career choice—it was a calling.
Throughout her journey, O’Neal said her Christian faith remained a constant source of strength. After learning she had been accepted to medical school, she reflected on the years leading to that moment with five simple words:
“God’s timing is always perfect.”
As she entered her senior year of high school, O’Neal said she decided to pursue nursing because it would allow her to begin caring for patients sooner. She said the decision was inspired by the nurses who had cared for her brother and family throughout his battle with cystic fibrosis.
During nursing school, O’Neal said she shadowed an obstetrician-gynecologist during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to O’Neal, the physician recognized her passion for caring for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and encouraged her to pursue medical school.
While earning her nursing degree, O’Neal also completed the prerequisite coursework required for medical school. Her father later wrote that she graduated summa cum laude from Emory University after completing nursing and pre-med studies before serving as a registered nurse.
In her TikTok, O’Neal said she graduated with a 3.9 GPA, completed physician shadowing, community service and two years of research examining mild hypertension in pregnancy and maternal outcomes among Black women.
She also shared that she applied to just four medical schools. After receiving two interviews and initially being placed on two waitlists, she ultimately received the acceptance she had prayed for.
Another meaningful chapter in the family’s story came when O’Neal’s brother, William O’Neal II, met Dr. Michael Welsh, the University of Iowa physician-scientist whose decades of research helped pave the way for breakthrough cystic fibrosis therapies. O’Neal said the treatment spared her brother from needing a double lung transplant. The encounter was later featured in a USA Today Network story.
Her father said the medical challenges their family experienced became part of the foundation that prepared his daughter for her future.
“Those challenges didn’t break you, they prepared you,” he wrote. “They helped form the compassionate, resilient, and gifted woman God has called you to be.”
Today, O’Neal’s story has reached a wide audience on TikTok, where viewers have followed both her years-long journey to medical school and the emotional moment she shared the news with her parents.
This fall, O’Neal will follow in her father’s footsteps by attending his alma mater, UAB, as she begins the next chapter of her journey toward becoming a physician.
Her father closed his tribute with words of encouragement that reflected both the family’s faith and his confidence in what lies ahead.
“Keep trusting God, keep serving others, and keep walking in your calling,” he wrote. “The best is still ahead.”
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
