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Couple moves wedding to hospital chapel to include father who’s battling cancer

<i>KCAL/KCBS via CNN Newsource</i><br/>An Orange County couple held a heartfelt wedding ceremony inside a hospital chapel so the bride's father
Willingham, James
KCAL/KCBS via CNN Newsource
An Orange County couple held a heartfelt wedding ceremony inside a hospital chapel so the bride's father

By Michele Gile

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — An Orange County couple held a heartfelt wedding ceremony inside a hospital chapel so the bride’s father, who’s battling cancer, could accompany his daughter down the aisle.

“I’m going to try not to cry,” bride Brittny Arceo said. “I’m just glad that he’s going to be able to live this moment and be able to walk me down because I know that’s what he wants. He just wants me to be happy.”

There were plenty of tears inside the chapel at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange as Abraham Arceo was wheeled down the aisle next to his daughter Brittny.

“It’s been very hard lately, but we’re just glad they were able to do this for us,” wife Cecilia Arceo said. “It meant a lot to Brittny, to me. Just wanted to be sure he was able to see her get married.”

For more than a year, Abraham has been battling stage four pancreatic cancer. His daughter’s original wedding date is still weeks away, but Brittney talked to a nurse about making something happen sooner.

“They were getting married at the end of June and that the father’s cancer was progressing very quickly,” St. Joseph Hospital staff Cathy Fletcher said. “He really wanted to walk his daughter down the aisle … We decided we could figure out a way to make it happen.”

The wheelchair was able to be used with a nurse pushing the IV stand. With Abraham’s medication and fluids, he made it to the altar.

“He’s honestly my hero,” Brittny said. “I’ve always looked up to him ever since I was a little girl so even with this battle, this new battle, he just means so much to me.”

As the ceremony ended, a crowd of family members, nurses, doctors and St. Joseph Hospital staff cheered for the newlyweds and the bride’s father, whose wish came true.

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