Newlywed daughters rush to hospital in wedding dresses — so they could be with their dying father

Walking down the aisle with her father by her side is a daughter's priceless dream. Throughout her life, she cherishes the moment when her father blesses her as she enters a new phase of her life. And one cannot even start to imagine the pain a daughter goes through when she does not have her father on her big day. These two daughters did not want themselves to remain deprived of the privilege of having their father by their side. So they left no stone unturned to live their dream after they learned that he was terminally ill.

Graeme Crook, dad of Lucy and Katie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2019 and was informed that he does not have much time left. His two daughters, Lucy and Katie, and their boyfriends knew that it would mean the world to them if they could have their father walk them down the aisle before his health further deteriorated.

Lucy's partner, Colin, and Katie's partner, Matt secretly went to Graeme to ask for his blessing, reports The Sun. The couple then chalked out a double marriage plan within three weeks.

Lucy was due to get married first and Katie, the next day. But unfortunately, Graeme's health started failing rapidly the day Lucy was due to get married. The daughters understood that they would not have the honor of walking down the aisle with their father by their sides, but Graeme did not want the auspicious day to come to a halt. He wanted them to get married as scheduled.

"The doctors were talking about ‘end of life care’ but as soon as they said that he should speak to his daughters about canceling the weddings my dad gave the strongest ‘NO’ they’ve ever heard," Lucy said. "He said, 'those weddings are going ahead. They have to happen.' That helped us know that we were doing the right thing and he wanted us to have good days."

She added, "He couldn’t come to the weddings himself but he said that our mum had to go. He didn’t want her sat by his side crying. He knew she needed to be at the weddings. We thought it was so important that he saw us married to good men before he passed away."

Therefore, the sisters got married on September 28 and 29 respectively and instead of celebrating with friends, they rushed to the hospital to be by their father's side, still wearing their wedding dresses. Speaking to The Sun Online, Lucy, 28, said, "It was bad enough that he wasn’t able to be there so this was the next best thing". She added, "He was over the moon. It meant the world to us that we both managed to get pictures with our dad on our wedding days."

As miraculous as it may sound, Graeme managed to survive the weekend of his daughters' weddings before he drew his last breath just a week later, on October 6. Lucy is thankful to her videographer for getting the video ready as soon as possible enabling them to sit down and watch it with their dad.

Lucy said, "The videographer was incredible and managed to get the videos to us within a few days." She added, "So we were able to sit and watch them with my dad. The smile on his face - he was so happy to see both his girls get married."

In an adorable gesture, Lucy had left an empty chair at their wedding for their father and they later told him that it was to feel his presence. She said, "We only had 15 people at our wedding and I left an empty chair for my dad at the ceremony. When we watched the video a few days later I pointed it out and said 'that was your seat'. He was delighted."

She went on to say, "I feel like we were lucky to be able to have that moment together. The day after we watched the wedding video he looked at me and said I've had enough now." She added, "I understood what he was saying. We were all sat by his side - even then he was still holding on - and I said to him, 'don't be scared dad', and he slipped away."

This could be one of the hardest moments for a family, to see a loved one slip away while they couldn't do anything but shed helpless tears. However, This family seemed to have felt immense joy at the same time knowing that they were together till the very end and separated from each other with contentment.