Teen With Terminal Cancer Weds High School Sweetheart

A teenager with terminal cancer had his final wish fulfilled when he got to marry his high school sweetheart. Nineteen-year-old Dustin Snyder from Valrico, Florida received the horrifying news that he had terminal cancer just three weeks ago. With just weeks to live, he got his final wish of marrying his high school girlfriend, 21-year-old Sierra Siverio. The couple tied the knot on Sunday.

The whole community worked together to make Dustin’s final wish a reality. He expressed his desire to marry Sierra just five days earlier. A family friend, Nicole Jordan Roberts, spoke to People about how the news spread across the community.

“It was amazing and just so beautiful. But obviously very emotional.”

“It started off with a Facebook post where Dustin’s sister asked if anyone had a tux and wedding dress. They were going to do it in their backyard and we were all going to bring food.”

Roberts says once the news spread, everyone started offering things from food and music to the wedding dress and flower arrangements.

Here are a couple of photos one of the guests, Brittany Hails, shared on her Facebook page. The first photo features Dustin and Sierra exchanging their vows.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1949612261736828&set=a.100643406633732.1338.100000642188562&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1949827478381973&set=pcb.1949828635048524&type=3&theater

Following the wedding, the couple danced their first dance as husband and wife to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. The couple’s family and friends were present with them at the Big Red Barn Venue in Oak Hill, Florida. The two first fell in love in middle school but went their separate ways after some time. But they got back together again two years ago before Dustin’s diagnosis. Roberts had this to say about them.

“They got back together two years ago before his diagnosis. Dustin knew that she was the one for him.”

“This day was about being happy. I saw Sierra crying when he danced with his mom and she was crying with a smile across her face. It was hard thinking that this is the last dance she’ll have with her son.”

Dustin was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Synovial Sarcoma on June 28, 2016, just one day before his 18th birthday. Doctors had found and removed a mass from his lung and following a series of chemotherapy sessions, he was told that his cancer had gone. The entire family celebrated. But it came back just two months later. And just a couple of weeks ago, he was given the diagnosis that he has weeks to live.

Ever since he left the hospital, Dustin has been in hospice care. And despite having to deal with extreme pain, he found the strength to get up and moving for his wedding. Dustin’s mother wanted to do all she could to make her son’s dying wish come true, claims Roberts.

“They told him he had just a few weeks and that there was nothing they could do. His mom told me she wanted to do as much as she could with him in the little time he had. She wants him to experience as much as he can.”

Dustin’s sister started a GoFundMe page for their wedding which had raised a staggering $40,000.