The man is now in remission.
The groom, who was on the verge of death, married the love of his life, which gave him the strength to continue his fight against cancer.
Mirror writes about this.
27-year-old Zach Stroup and 25-year-old Maddie got engaged right in the hospital where the man was being treated. The wedding was hastily arranged 48 hours after Zach's condition worsened, leaving the couple concerned he only had days to live.
But Zach says the wedding was a “throwback moment” that helped him get through the “dark” days of his illness.
“I think it was the scariest thing I've ever been through – everything was so dark and for so long, but the wedding was a turning point for me. I don't think I would have coped,” he recalled.
The high school sweethearts were enjoying a “perfect life” together before Zach was diagnosed with Crohn's disease after… how he began to feel tired and sweat at night. He was given medication and was expected to return to normal, but in November 2020 his symptoms began to worsen.
After visiting the hospital, Zach was diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer, stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. But the man struggled through intensive treatment until it was announced in April 2021 that he was in remission. That same year, during a trip to Florida, Zach proposed to Maddie.
But in September 2021, Zach began to lose mobility in his legs and was practically paralyzed. After being rushed to the hospital, it was discovered that a tumor had grown on his spinal cord, so he returned to chemotherapy a month before the wedding.
At this moment, Zach’s health condition once again seriously deteriorated. So the couple announced that they would get married in just 48 hours, surrounded by staff and patients.
“I was so tired of fighting, I wanted to keep fighting for Maddie, but I was so tired and I just didn't want to continue. I felt like this was it for me, I was in such a dark place that it felt like I would never get better,” Zach shared. “But having that whole day dedicated to just me and Maddie and our love brought so much happiness back into my life and made me realize what I had. It made me extremely happy when I saw her turn the corner, it gave me more drive and reminded me why I was fighting. She was so good, and after everything we'd been through, seeing her so emotional made me realize what it was,” he continued.
For Maddie, the main thing was to do everything possible to keep Zach fighting and keep his spirit up: “He wanted to give up, but I didn’t could allow it. We just thought: if this is the last thing we can do together, at least it's something positive. It was maddening to see him feel so defeated, but I was so happy to see how much light the wedding brought back into his eyes. I walked out of the elevator, and patients and doctors stood in rows and just encouraged me – I didn’t feel alone in this situation, and it was a wonderful feeling. I was so proud of him for getting to this point and not let cancer take this moment from us.”
The couple got married at the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, where Zach received treatment. And right after the wedding, Zach said he was ready to undergo chemotherapy, which he said was the most rigorous period of treatment he had undergone. After chemotherapy showed signs of progress, he underwent a bone marrow transplant to remove the remaining cancer in his bones.
And with each course of treatment after the wedding, Zach became more and more confident in his recovery – and for several months he has been in remission. Thanks to physical therapy in addition to treatment, Zach returned to normal activities, including going on vacation and returning to work.
And now for Zach and Maddie, it's about resuming the “perfect life” they had before his diagnosis. “We'll definitely renew our vows at some point so we can cut the cake and have our first dance. I'm the healthiest I've been in years, so it feels like anything is possible,” Zack said.
Recall that the man who recently shocked with his “wedding of the century” faces life imprisonment. Jacob LaGrone appeared in a Texas court last week.
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