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Terminally ill bride's wish to wed sweetheart granted in emotional ceremony

A terminally ill woman who has always dreamed of being a bride, has been granted her dying wish and wedded her long-time boyfriend despite being given only days to live.

The couple Ronda Bivens, 28 and Matthew Mager, 29, from Tennessee in the US, met 10 years ago and have two children, aged four and six.

The family was rocked 12 months ago when the young woman was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer on her ankle, called epithelioid sarcoma, and her leg needed to be amputated immediately.

A terminally ill woman who has always dreamed of being a bride, has been granted her dying wish and wedded her long-time boyfriend despite being given only days to live. Picture: Matthew Mager
A terminally ill woman who has always dreamed of being a bride, has been granted her dying wish and wedded her long-time boyfriend despite being given only days to live. Picture: Matthew Mager

Following surgery, she walked with a prosthetic leg, but sadly the cancer eventually spread to her lungs. Doctors expect she has only days left to live.

“I told her from day one when we first found out she had cancer that I know we always talked about having a big wedding,” Mr Mager told InsideEdition.com.

“I said if anything happens, we will get married somehow, someway.”

That day eventually came last Thursday, at the home of the bride's best friend Amanda Dalton, where Mrs Mager is receiving hospice care.

Family and friends combined their efforts to give the couple the wedding they've always wanted, despite the bride's condition.

Wedding guests arranged for the local preacher to facilitate the ceremony at a friend's home, and also bought the bride a wedding dress. Picture: Supplied
Wedding guests arranged for the local preacher to facilitate the ceremony at a friend's home, and also bought the bride a wedding dress. Picture: Supplied

Ms Dalton and other wedding guests arranged for the local preacher and someone from the county clerk's office to facilitate the ceremony at her home, and also bought the bride a wedding dress.

The groom said the moment was a heart-warming one for him.

“My goal was to give her my last name before she passes. It was really emotional. I cried," he said.

"I joke with her and say ‘you’re not going anywhere now. We are hitched'.

"I spend most days just holding her hand and talking to her because I may not be able to talk to her tomorrow.”

Ms Dalton told of how the room was packed with the couple's nearest and dearest.

“It’s something that we always wanted to do together. We’d been talking about it for years," Ms Dalton said.

"We didn’t think it would be inside my house in a small room, but we made it work.”