A 16-year-old fulfilled her terminally ill boyfriend's final wish by marrying him just three days before he passed away.
High school sweethearts Amie Cresswell and Omar Al Shaikh met eight months ago while attending Four Dwellings Academy in Birmingham, England. Omar was in remission for acute myeloid leukemia when they began dating. In March, the cancer came back, and his doctors told him that he had just three months to find a stem cell donor.
Tragically, by the time matching stem cells were tracked down, Omar was too ill to have the transplant; his chemotherapy treatments had been unsuccessful, and the cancer had spread to his bone marrow. On June 14, he received the devastating diagnosis that he had just a few days left to live. After getting permission from both of their parents, he proposed to Amy on the hospital grounds using a daisy-chain for a ring.
"We had talked about getting married but never imagined we would be 16. We thought we would grow old together," Amy tells The Daily Mail.
The couple wed at Omar's bedside surrounded by 20 of their loved ones. "There were lots of tears, and he was in the wheelchair, but he even tried to get on his knee, it was beautiful. It was a very moving ceremony, and I felt proud watching him," says Omar's mother, Mirabela.
Photos courtesy of Amie Cresswell
A few days later, Omar passed away while holding his wife's hand.
"As he put the ring on my finger he said he wished he had more time with me. I wish we had too, but I'm so glad we had the chance to make this happy memory," Amie says.
Their friends and relatives urge anyone interested in becoming a stem cell donor to sign up with Anthony Nolan, a charity that carries out research to make bone marrow transplants more effective.
— Stefania Sainato
- ssainato's blog
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