Dad "Marries" His Terminally Ill Daughter So She Won't Die Without Having Her Dream Wedding
From the moment his daughter was born, Andy Barnard dreamed of the day he’d walk her down the aisle. But when Andy learned that his beloved 16-month-old, Poppy-Mai, had a fatal brain tumor, he came to the crushing realization that there were so many special moments he’d never get to share with his little girl.
“When we found out Poppy-Mai was a girl, I’ve said she’d have the wedding of her dreams one day,” Barnard told the Daily Mail. Despite a devastating prognosis, Andy wouldn’t let anything stop Poppy-Mai from getting to be a bride.
In February, Poppy-Mai wasn’t acting like herself. The typically energetic child seemed uncharacteristically lethargic and her tummy was distended, the Daily Mail reports.
Her doctor attributed the symptoms to teething, and prescribed a laxative. But within 10 days, Poppy-Mai’s health started deteriorating. After several misdiagnoses, further testing showed that Poppy-Mai had malignant tumors in her kidney and lungs.
“At that point we knew we had a battle on our hands but we had hope and vowed to do anything we could to save her,” Sammi said.
But after doing chemotherapy to combat the aggressive cancer, on March 16, an inoperable tumor was discovered in Poppy-Mai’s brain. Without continuing treatment, Poppy-Mai was given just two days to live.
“I resented that I had already spent four weeks in hospital with Poppy-Mai putting her through treatment that could have never made any difference to her condition,” Sammi said.
“We had already been robbed of too much precious wasted time in hospital when she could have been with her family. We felt utterly broken. But we felt sure we were doing the right thing.”
The next morning, they took Poppy-Mai home and made sure that before passing, she was able to enjoy one last milestone: her wedding.
“I never ever thought it would be like this. Our hearts are broken forever, but I wanted to keep my promise to my princess. It wasn’t how I imagined, but she got her wedding day,” Andy said.
Dressed in her cousin’s christening gown, Poppy-Mai “married” her father during an impromptu celebration. Her mom and big brothers Rylee, six, and Jenson-Jay, four, escorted her down the aisle.
“My oldest son told me he had known all along that Poppy-Mai would become a star in heaven. But my youngest said that maybe the other stars would fix her so she could come home again. He can’t accept his cheeky little sister, who makes him pretend cups of tea, and steals his toy cars, is dying,” Sammi shared.
“Being our only daughter, we’d often talked about one day watching her get married,” Sammi added. “She looked so beautiful. But nobody could say the vows that had been written because everyone was crying too much.”
Poppy-Mai’s family considers every moment they have left with her a blessing, but they know the end is near.
“My wish is for greater awareness in Poppy-Mai’s name. I gave birth to an angel and soon she will become one. The pain is indescribable but in talking about this, other parents might be spared from losing a child.”
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