Elisabeth Linde, 31, was devastated after her dad’s mesothelioma diagnosis, an aggressive form of cancer, which left him bedridden at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
Wanting her father by her side when she married her longtime boyfriend, Devin, the woman moved up the wedding date. In videos, Elisabeth, who works as a nurse, can be seen holding a bouquet as she walks down the hospital aisle in tears, while staff and guests line the aisle.
She then meets her groom, as well as their eight-year-old son, by her father’s bedside, and kisses him on the cheek before taking his hand. “You’ve been so incredible. We wouldn’t have the life we do without you. Thank you, I love you so much.”
👰🏥 Celebró su boda en un hospital para que su padre enfermo de cáncer la viera casándose: Tristemente, falleció a los dos días de la ceremonia. pic.twitter.com/ThrT6PmayQ
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) April 18, 2024
A very special wedding
The next day, the couple told the father that Devin would take his wife’s last name to keep the family’s legacy. “My dad has three daughters, but he always wanted a son to carry on our surname,” said Elisabeth. “We asked for his permission to take the ‘Linde’ surname so that our son can be the one to continue it.”
Additionally, she added, she and Devin had struggled with drug addiction, and her father helped them quit while encouraging her to finish her nursing degree. Just two days after the wedding, her father, a former Wall Street executive, passed away at the age of 56.
Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer with an unfavorable prognosis, even if detected early, as only 10 percent of patients survive more than five years. Many more succumb to the cancer months after diagnosis.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth has been overwhelmed by the positive response on TikTok, with the first episode of the four-part series documenting the moments around her wedding garnering over 50 million views and 2.6 million likes. “It was truly a special and beautiful way to honor my dad. We lost nothing by having it in the hospital. We only gained this great family memory.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhyDivUb8EA
This story was written originally in spanish by Miguel Fernández in Cultura Colectiva