Family throws surprise wedding for bride with terminal cancer
Liza Haynie Heaton received terrible news after she went to the emergency room for stomach pains on Thanksgiving Day: her synovial sarcoma, a form of cancer, had returned, and the Louisiana native had less than one month to live.
But Heaton's fiance Wyatt wasn't ready to give up on Liza just yet. Just 48 hours after the diagnosis, Heaton's family and friends gathered in Shreveport, La. on December 13 to throw the couple a surprise wedding.
"We invited family and friends to a simple 'fish fry' to celebrate her life. What everyone did not know was that they were actually going to attend a surprise wedding," Heaton's sister Ann Marie Haynie wrote on Liza's GoFundMe page.
But even though there was little time to plan the wedding, things seemed to fall in place.
"In less than 48 hours, our aunt and uncle generously offered their house, on the lake where we spent our childhood, as a venue. A friend offered to let Liza borrow the wedding dress she had always obsessed over. Wyatt's Dad brought his mother's ring to give to Liza," Haynie said.
"The ring was particularly special as Wyatt's mother passed away a few years ago after her own battle with cancer. Everything was exactly how Liza had always wanted her wedding to be. Most people were expecting a somber evening, filled with tears, but after a sunset wedding, the night was filled with laughter, dancing and pure joy. I can't think of a better way to have celebrated Liza, along with Wyatt, and the joy she brings to all of our lives."
Synovial sarcoma is a rare form of cancer that affects the neck, arm and leg joints, with just three out of every million people affected. However, Heaton's condition is looking to be a little more hopeful since her original diagnosis.
"The night after the wedding, the obstruction that had been preventing Liza from being able to receive treatment opened up. Liza called her oncologist immediately and he arranged for her to start a chemo pill," Haynie wrote on her sister's GoFundMe page. "The odds are still not great, but hope is hope, no matter what the chances are. We are hoping the chemo will help stabilize or shrink the tumors so that she can get healthy enough to participate in an immunotherapy trial in the near future."
Since synovial sarcoma is such a rare form of cancer, current research is scarce. So the family is currently asking for donations to be made to the Love For Liza fund at Johns Hopkins, which will be used for research into the disease. Donors must designate that they wish to support a particular physician or area of cancer research. Please designate the Love for Liza Fund. You can learn more about Liza and her condition at the links below.
Alison Haynie Photography website.
Alison Haynie Photography Facebook page.
