A hospital in Texas transformed into a wedding venue so a dying father could watch his daughter get married and fulfill his final hope.
‘It gives our hearts peace in knowing his last wish was fulfilled,’ his daughter said days after the wedding.
Michelle Avila was set to marry Antonio Moreno, but her father fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. He had just one last request, to see her get married.
The nurses at the UMC hospital in Lubbock and a wedding planning company helped Avila pull off the surprise to hold the ceremony at the facility while her dad was in the ICU.
‘He sat in the hallway waiting for her,’ wedding decorator Julie Hodges told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. ‘When she turned the corner, it was just a neat thing. A lot of tears, it was bittersweet, but it’s just a really cool experience and we were honored to do it and donate our time and all the things.’
Michelle Avilla married Antonio Moreno at the UMC hospital in Lubbock, Texas, so her dad could see them get married
Avilla’s father was in the ICU and his condition was rapidly declining
The father’s last wish was to see his daughter get married, which thanks to nurses, was accomplished
A video captured the tender ceremony, and showed how a hospital corridor had been converted into a bona fide wedding venue, complete with flower-bedecked chairs, guests of honor, and photographers.
The couple walked down the hallway to the accompaniment of two acoustic guitars. Doctors and nurses gathered in the wings to cheer on Avila and Moreno.
Two young boys strewed flower petals from a wicker basket on the hospital floor.
The father patiently awaited his daughter in his wheelchair at the end of the hallway.
When she reached him, Michelle Avila and her father held hands and exchanged heartfelt words. The oxygen mask couldn’t muffle the father’s joyful voice.
Hodges said she, her company Eventfully Yours and the nursing staff were happy to play a part in the special ceremony.
‘It was just nice that we were chosen and I feel like God led us there for that reason,’ Hodges said.
After the ceremony was over, Avilla returned to the hospital that night to visit her father.
Eventfully Yours, an event-planning company, worked tirelessly to transform the hospital into a proper wedding venue
The doctors and nurses at UMC spared no efforts in making the father’s wish come true, and they cheered the nuptials on as they walked down the hallway
Avilla’s father sadly passed away on March 13, only a few short days after the wedding ceremony
In a Facebook post, she said she was ‘thankful’ she did so because ‘it was so nice to hear him talk about how overjoyed he was.’
The next day, the father’s condition ‘took a turn for the worse,’ and Avilla ‘was no longer able to hear his voice.’
On March 13, her father died just days after watching his daughter get married.
In her Facebook post, Avilla expressed her gratitude to the hospital and its staff. She thanked Eventfully Yours, the resourceful wedding-company that turned the hospital into a suitable venue with just a few hours notice.
And Avilla thanked ‘the kind hearted nurses that filled our lives with much love, along with the hundreds of strangers that prayed for him.’
Although she lost her beloved father, Avilla said that they ‘feel a peace that surpasses understanding even within the midst of grief.’