Brilio.net/en - Taking daughters to the altar is a long-sought dream for every dad. But even that simple wish seems impossible for a Royal Air Force personnel.
Andy Barnard, based in Thetford, England, had always vowed that one day his only daughter would have the wedding of her dreams. But tragically, that day will never come for his beloved baby girl who has been given only two days to live after being diagnosed with a rare and fatal brain tumour.
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So Andy's RAF colleagues hastily arranged a wedding day for 16-month-old Poppy-Mai so the beautiful little bride could be married to her hero father.
According to Daily Mail, Poppy-Mai was escorted to the aisle by her mother Sammi Barnard (29), along with big brothers Rylee (6) and Jenson-Jay (4).
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The 31-year-old father, who serves with the RAF 27 squadron regiment, said: From the moment we found out Poppy-Mae was a girl I've said she'd have the wedding of her dreams one day. 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.
The wedding day was held six weeks after the Barnard family had their world turned upside down. On February 14, Sammi took her daughter to see a doctor. The toddler, who is usually playful, had refused to eat or drink and was constipated with a distended tummy. Sammi also noticed that she seemed off balance.
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The doctor put the baby's symptoms down to teething and prescribed a laxative. But Poppy-Mai grew worse and Sammi noticed a lump appear under her rib cage. Moreover, the baby refused all foods and drinks and was unwilling to walk. When the mom took her back to the GP, a different doctor prescribed a stronger laxative.
But the following afternoon on February 25 Sammi was so concerned she drove her daughter to their local hospitals Accident & Emergency Department. The toddler, who had now started vomiting, was immediately admitted as doctors battled to stabilise her.
Her calcium levels were way too high and they had to address that first before they could start to work out what was wrong. At the worst I thought she maybe had a really bad infection, Sammi recalled.
Later that day, an ultrasound revealed what appeared to be a mass in her stomach.
The consultant sat Sammi down and said: "You know this is much worse than constipation now, don't you."
I did, but when he said they suspected cancer I was shocked, said Sammi.
She was told that they suspected her daughter had Wilms; a type of kidney cancer in children.
Andy, who was serving with his squadron in America, was flown back to the UK to be with his daughter only to find a CT scan that revealed the mass on Poppy-Mai's kidney had started to spread. Speckles were also detected in her 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, said Sammi.
But unfortunately, in only a week the 'speckles' had already grown into masses. Doctors now diagnosed a malignant rhabdoid tumour in the babys left kidney and lungs; a very rare and aggressive type of cancer.
The broken-hearted parents were warned that her chances of survival were slim. Even then we still had hope and if there was a chance she might survive we had to believe in that chance, Sammi recalled.
Poppy-Mai started chemotherapy and appeared to respond well. But on March 16th, cancer was found in her brain. The size and position of the tumour above her right eye meant it was untreatable.
The brave mother asked how much time her daughter had left and was told two days without treatment.
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I can't even tell you how I felt because I was just in utter shock and disbelief. We just looked at each other trying to take it in. For someone to tell you that your daughter could be gone in two days is unfathomable, she said.
Andy kept asking what they could do, he was sure there must be something. But more chemo meant more painful side effects and the parents simply couldn't put their beloved daughter through it.
I couldn't watch her suffer anymore to save our own pain and grief, Sammi said.
Eventually, Sammi and Andy told staff they decided to take their daughter home to enjoy the time she had left pain free. They sat their sons down to explain that Poppy-Mai was coming home to spend time with them before she had to go to heaven and become a star.
We had already been robbed of too much precious wasted time in the hospital when she could have been with her family, said Sammi.
My oldest son told me he had to know 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, she said. He cannot accept his cheeky little sister who makes him pretend cups of tea and steals his toy cars is dying.
They returned to their home in Thetford the following morning. Then the next day, March 18, Andy's colleagues arranged the wedding ceremony. They dressed a function room with ribbons and balloons and Poppy-Mai made her grand entrance in her cousin's christening gown.
I couldn't stop crying. Being our only daughter, we'd often talked about one day watching her get married, said the mom. She looked so beautiful. But nobody could say the vows that had been written because everyone was crying too much.
Poppy-Mai managed to stay awake for the ceremony and then fell asleep in her proud father's arms. Every day since has been a blessing and the family are enjoying every precious minute they have left.
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