Every bride wants her father to be present on her wedding day—a day that is perhaps one of the most important in her life.
So when bride-to-be Candice Hammonds found out that her ailing dad Steve only had a few days to live and may not make it to her wedding, she and her fiance Thomas Burkett decided to move their wedding date early.
Steve had been diagnosed of a rare autoimmune disease called sarcoidosis two years before, and had been battling with the condition ever since.
But when his condition took a turn for the worse, doctors said that he wouldn’t be able live for much longer and gave him a couple of days.
“It meant the world to me to have my dad be a part of that day,” Candice told TODAY. “It’s something every girl dreams of.”
With the help of the staff at Upson Regional Medical Center in Thomaston, Georgia, Candice and Thomas was able to organize their wedding at the hospital in less than 24 hours.
“The hospital allowed the family to use a room in the outpatient surgery area, and immediate family and close friends gathered for the ceremony,” said the TODAY report. “They also covered up Steve’s ventilator with sheets and reduced his medication so he would be lucid for the ceremony.”
Also helping the couple was the bride’s cousin Alicia Maddox; she even managed to get a cake and fix the reception.
“Candice told me my uncle wasn’t doing well and that she wanted to get married in front of him a day later, so I said, ‘Let’s do it,”’ Alicia said. “It was absolutely beautiful. It was perfect.
“Everything just fell right into place. It was an act of God, a miracle that it happened.”
Alicia also reached out to wedding photographer Julie Schandolph, who also happened to be a good friend.
“There was no way I could’ve turned it down,” Julie told TODAY. “The room was just filled with so much emotion and love. It was bittersweet, but Candice’s dad was still able to have that special moment with her.”
On Candice’s big day, Steve, with his wife Teresa by his side, gave his daughter away.
The bride described her wedding as a “roller coaster of emotions.”
“I’m marrying the man of my dreams but I’m also sad about losing my father,” she said. “But I’m so thankful God allowed my father to be there with us and interact with us the way that he did.”
Two days later, Steve died of pneumonia.
Talking to TODAY, Upson Regional Medical Center CEO Tripp Penn said that they were “just really grateful that the family let us in on this sacred moment in their lives>
“That is a huge milestone in the life of a person and to have it come together in that setting and allow him to be part of that special day was just incredible.”
READ: When a parent is dying: How to tell your child the hard news
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