A 5-year-old girl diagnosed with terminal cancer was granted her dying wish- to marry her best friend.
Five-year-old Eileidh Paterson from Forres, Scotland, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which is an uncommon childhood cancer that develops in nerve tissues, at the age of two.
When little Eileidh and her family discovered her cancer was terminal, she set about writing a list of everything she wanted to do. Eileidh’s mother, Grail Paterson told CBS News;
“When we were told in February that any treatment now would just prolong her life and that ultimately she wouldn’t survive, we decided to make a bucket list of things she would love to do and make as many memories as possible.”
Among the items on Eileidh’s bucket list was a trip to Disneyland Paris, painting her bedroom pink and visiting the zoo, but the sweetest of all was her top wish: to marry her best friend, six-year-old Harrison Grier.
And he was just as keen: “Harrison has said for over a year that he was going to marry her,” Paterson said. “He even ‘borrowed’ one of his mum’s rings to give to her.”
“The two of them just have this magical bond,” Harrison’s mother Stephanie Grier said. “Harrison has always said that he loves her and that he wanted to marry her.”
The wedding ceremony held on June 18 at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, and was organized in just a month by Zara Grant, the managing editor of children’s entertainment company, Love Rara.
Eileidh was walked into the room by her older brother, Callum, to the sound of Disney’s When you wish upon a star.
The couple met at the end of the aisle and were declared “best friends forever,” surrounded by friends, family, superheroes and princesses.
Eileidh and Harrison exchanged St Christopher necklaces to signify the journey they’d been on instead of rings.
“She was in her absolute element getting to play with other kids and have fun,” Paterson said.
At the ceremony, Grant read a fairy tale of Eileidh’s battle, written by her mother. In the story, Eileidh was a princess who would “stop at nothing to survive,” despite the “evil beast” (her cancer) trying to defeat her.
“It took her hair but it couldn’t take her smile,” Paterson wrote.
Around 30 people attended the wedding and more than 200 joined them to celebrate at the party.
“These are going to be lasting memories,” Paterson said
well if it is God,s will for their to come to pAss so sha” it be but if not it cause them probldm thy would have grown up