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Emotional moment bride gets to dance with her dying father on her wedding day

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By Claudia Harrison
Feb 01, 2019
04:03 P.M.

Many people dream of having their fantasy wedding one day, and for most women, the father-daughter dance is an important part of this. But when one bride’s father became terminally ill, there was a chance that this would not be possible for them.

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Vanessa Wickham (nee Johnston) was planning her wedding when she found out that her father, Lew Johnston, had reached the final stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The couple had picked a location with a high altitude, which would be bad for Lew’s condition. Despite this, he still wanted to do as much as he possibly could to be present for his daughter’s big day.

Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.

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He first did a trial at a higher altitude and when he passed that he committed himself to attend the wedding. Although Vanessa was starting to come to terms with the fact that she would not share a father-daughter dance with him.

A SPECIAL MOMENT

Lew did not let the fact that he was terminally ill stand in his way. He not only walked Vanessa down the aisle but also shared the traditional father-daughter dance with her. Looking back on the experience Vanessa says,

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“It was amazing to have my dad there. It was such a special moment to dance with him.”

The song they chose was “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” by Elton John. Vanessa arranged for this special moment to be filmed and photographed and footage of the touching video has spread rapidly across social media.

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A TOUCHING WEDDING STORY

A bride from Massachusetts decided to give away her father-daughter dance to a more deserving dad and his daughters.

The bride’s childhood friends had shared with her that their father had been diagnosed with cancer and only had a few months left to live. He would not live long enough to share a father-daughter dance with either of his daughters at their weddings.

At the reception, the bride decided to let her friends and their father share a dance as they would not have the opportunity otherwise. They danced to “Every Breath You Take” and the touching moment made all the guests emotional.

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