Fulfilling his promise: Sarah Nagy was given away by her father Scott, 56 on her wedding day at First Lutheran Church in Strongsville, Ohio, on Saturday |
A terminally ill man who arrived at his daughter’s wedding by ambulance took her down the aisle – on a hospital bed.
Guests cried and clapped as Scott Nagy, gripped by cancer, gave his
daughter Sarah away on Saturday at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Strongsville, Ohio.
A volunteer team of medical professionals helped Nagy escort the
24-year-old bride as groom Angelo Salvatore and the Rev. Chuck Knerem
awaited their arrival.
Devotion: Terminally ill Scott Nagy gave his daughter Samantha away at an Ohio church on Saturday on his hospital bed |
‘It was a promise I made in March, to walk her down the aisle,’ the 56-year-old Brunswick man said.
‘She’s my princess. This is my definition of walking down the aisle.’
Nagy was diagnosed with urethral cancer in November and has undergone chemotherapy.
He has been at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center since August.
He reportedly has just ‘weeks to months’ to live.
Doctors were uncertain if he would be able to make the wedding, initially scheduled for next year.
But with monitor cords slipped under his tuxedo and a tracheal tube
attached, he made the trip down the aisle, kissing a grandson who was
the ring bearer and giving a thumb’s up.
Lying raised up on the gurney that carried him from the hospital, he escorted Sarah to the altar to meet her groom.
‘It’s almost like it was just meant to be. The first night at the
hospital, Scott said, ‘Just remember, I have to be at my daughter’s
wedding in October.’ He was a big part of this. He was at the bridal
shower. He went shopping for her dress. There was no way he was not
going to finish this out.’
Jacky Uljanic, a nurse practitioner with the hospital, helped make the arrangements for Nagy to attend the wedding.
She put him through daily therapy to build up his strength and she checked on the logistics in advance.
Adoration: Scott Nagy promised his daughter Sarah in March he would walk her down the aisle after being diagnosed with cancer in November |
Family ties: Scott Nagy (center) pictured with his supportive wife Jean (right) who works as a nurse at his hospital and his daughter Sarah |
Physicians Medical Transport donated the ambulance trip, and a doctor and other medical personnel accompanied Nagy on the ride.
Sarah said that since she was a little girl, she has wanted her
father to escort her down the aisle when she married. The Brunswick High
School teacher said her future husband assured her she would get her
wish.
‘But it is what I wanted since I was a little girl, for my father to
escort me down the aisle. My future husband said, ‘You will get your
wish’,’ she told cleveland.com.
At the vestibule, she burst into tears and told her father she loved him.
‘We did it,’ Nagy said to her and reminded her not to streak her makeup.
He stayed to the end of the afternoon service, watching from the back of the church.
Nagy was too sick to attend the reception, so he delivered the traditional toast via Skype from his hospital bed.
Caring: Too sick to attend his daughter’s wedding reception, Scott Nagy delivered his speech via Skype from his hospital bed |
Loving union: Sarah Nagy wed Angelo Salvatore on Saturday at First Lutheran Church in Strongsville, Ohio |
Culled from Dailymail