It was a bittersweet wedding in this North Carolina hospital.
Kaila Kirby planned to marry her fiancé Daniel Haley on July 16, 2016, but had an emergency wedding on Wednesday so her terminally ill father could be there for the heartwarming moment.
The 49-year-old father, Jubal Kirby, was suffering from Pulmonary Fibrosis, an incurable lung disease and was hospitalized for three weeks, without any improvement according to the Charlotte Observer.
So the couple moved the wedding date up by seven months, putting together the last-minute plan with the help of their family and loved ones.
“I am happy but sad because I wanted my dad to stand beside me,” Kaila Kirby said. “He’s my best friend.”
Jubal Kirby’s nurse, Meredith Garolds, a newlywed, overheard the idea and pitched in, clocking in at 6:45 a.m. that day for the noon wedding, FOX Carolina reported.
The Carolinas Medical Center’s nurses brought balloons and cake for the wedding while Kaila’s sister went to a Target to get a veil and bouquet for the bride.
When the Target employee heard about the emergency wedding, the worker paid for the items out of pocket.
Pastor Rex Burelson, a family friend of Kaila’s, performed the ceremony inside the ICU. The loving bride and groom stood at Jubal Kirby’s bedside, where he laid wearing a ventilator to breathe.
“I wanted to do this for Kaila,” the pastor said. “She may not have gotten everything she imagined on her wedding day but she got the most important part — to spend it with her dad.”
Family members and hospital staff watched as the couple stood next to the ill father’s bed and exchanged their vows.
Jubal was able to have his ventilator mask removed and kissed his daughter on the cheek after she said “I do.”
For the father, this was his second wedding this week. He had married his girlfriend of 26 years on Monday, the local Fox affiliate reported.
