Dad Announces He's Ready to Be Taken Off Life Support After Daughter Marries Fiancé at Hospital
Shelby Schweikhart-Conville of Indiana was heartbroken when she learned last month that her father’s lung cancer had reoccured and was no longer responding to treatment, according to WTVR.
“It came back with a vengeance,” Schweikhart-Conville wrote in an emotional Facebook post on Jan. 2 detailing the condition of her father, Steven Schweikhart. “The cancer had taken over his lungs, and he is not responding to chemo.”
With her father in intensive care at St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville, Schweikhart-Conville and her fiancé decided to move up their wedding to hold it inside Steven’s hospital room. According to her post, the couple planned the wedding in under half an hour, all so her father could witness the special moment.
“Not the idea I had in mind for a wedding, but Jared and I got married!” Schweikhart-Conville wrote in her post.
“Knowing we exhausted every hope, we planned a wedding in the ICU in less than 30 min. It was the most beautiful, bittersweet moment of my life,” she continued. “My dad got to see his baby girl get married, and it meant the world to me that he was able to see it.”
In a video posted to her Facebook page of the ceremony — which took place on Dec. 29, according to the Evansville Courier & Press — Schweikhart-Conville is seen giving her father a kiss while wearing a wedding dress.
“I love you,” she whispered as she stroked his hair.
RELATED: Woman in Labor Officiates Hospital Wedding for Couple Also Welcoming Baby: ‘The Stars Aligned!’
Schweikhart-Conville and her fiancé held hands as the wedding officiant began the ceremony.
When the moment came for the couple to exchange rings, Steven handed one to his soon-to-be son-in-law, and then to his daughter. The newlyweds then shared a kiss as their guests broke out into applause.
Schweikhart-Conville’s video has received more than 300,000 views on Facebook since it was posted last week.
“What a beautiful way to begin their marriage together and honor her father,” wrote one Facebook user. “I cried watching this.”
RELATED: Woman, 50, Dies 2 Days After Getting Married in Hospital Double Wedding — Next to Her Daughter
“What a memory building day to last forever with your dad,” wrote another.
Following the ceremony, Steven announced he was ready to be taken off life support.
“Shortly after the wedding, my dad wanted to stop the life support,” Schweikhart-Conville wrote on Facebook.
According to the Courier & Press, Steven has been doing well since leaving the hospital and placed into hospice care.
“Now it’s [more than] a week later,” Schweikhart-Conville told the newspaper, “and he just keeps getting better every day.”
“He’s up walking and talking and eating,” she added. “We’re just praying for a miracle.”
