A little girl in Albany gets her dream come true with the help of some caring friends in the healthcare field.
Little Abby, a girl who is fighting for her life against Leukemia, is a 4-year-old patient in the Albany Medical Center.
Her mom says that she dreams of someday marrying her favorite nurse Matt Hickling, whom she considers to be her prince charming.
"Abby herself is really bright and charismatic. She has a smile that can light up a room or the whole center really," Hickling told NBC News. "She has a face you really can't forget."
Indeed, nurses and healthcare practitioners are working hard for the health and well-being of their patients. In this case, it was more than just medical procedures, prescriptions and medicines.
NBC station WNYT reports that to help make Abby's dream come true, the staff at the Melodies Center for Childhood Cancers prepared for her wedding last Thursday, complete with an aisle filled with rose petals, and yes, the nurses as bridesmaids.
The groom, Hickling, who was Abby's nurse for almost a year, came in dressed up for the occasion - wearing a tuxedo shirt to go with his scrubs.
Both of them shared a cake, and two ring pops.
A nurse, Lori Ciafardoni, took a video of the ceremony and posted it on Facebook, where it garnered more than 24 million views - making it viral.
Hickling says the video shows how well the staff worked together for this momentous event in the little girl's life. It took them 24 hours to prepare for the celebration.
"We can make these memories so it's something they [the patients] can hold on to," Hickling said.
Hickling told NBC News that little Abby is doing fine lately. She is still scheduled for a year and a half of maintenance, hopefully after which she could move into remission.
Though weddings aren't only held inside the four walls of a church building, the idea of a wedding in a hospital seems very unique - and uncommon.
And this unique and uncommon one managed to brighten up a little girl's life.
"It's the best day ever," little bride Abby says to NBC.
People who are sick and in dire circumstance are needing care and comfort to help them heal quicker and better. And with health practitioners like Hickling and the staff at Albany Medical Center, we can be sure of just that.
So today I got to help make a 4 year old leukemia patient's "wedding" to her favorite nurse Matt Hickling happen at the Melodies Center for Childhood Cancers at AMC. Thanks to Scott Wright and the team at the Enchanted Garden for donating your time and amazing flowers and to everyone at AMC that helped pull this together in less than 24 hours. You people are amazing. THIS is why we go into nursing.
Posted by Lori Ciafardoni on Thursday, July 16, 2015
