The touching image of a newlywed couple carrying their two-year-old son with stage four cancer in a hospital is capturing hearts across the world.
The photo was taken on Jan. 7, when Celia and Geff Kinzel got married at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where their son was being cared for.
Celia and Geff have been together for six years and got engaged in 2015 after their second child Logan was born. But in early 2016, he was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer and their plans for a wedding quickly withered away.
“The first thing the hospital said was that [Logan] had a tumour. I don’t remember a lot from that night. I was in so much shock,” Celia told Global News.
The large tumour in Logan’s brain was removed in February after a long surgery. He then went through several rounds of chemotherapy. And by summer, he was cancer free.
But around the fall, Logan started showing signs of cancer again, Celia said.
“He got a scan and it showed that it had returned, the same brain cancer. He had a big tumour and many small tumours in his brain, as well as down his spine.”
That’s when Celia said the couple decided they would have the wedding.
“We decided to move up our wedding and get married at the hospital because it was really important to both of us that both of our boys were there.”
So the couple had a small wedding with their family and made it superhero themed. Logan wore a wolverine tie and his older brother Rowan, 4, wore a Hulk one.
On the way out of the hospital’s chapel, Celia’s mother Megan Dempsey snapped the powerful photo of her daughter, her son-in-law and of Logan.
“I was chasing them down the hallway… they were going back up to Logan’s hospital room and it was just a lucky snap of a picture,” Dempsey of Columbus told ABC News.
Celia says she is shocked with the reaction the family received from people all over the world who were touched by the photo. She’s used the opportunity to spread the message that childhood cancer is much more common than we think.
“It can happen to anyone, even at a young age” Celia said, hoping that more funding and research will be dedicated to fighting the disease.
Now, Logan has been released from the hospital where he was getting treated. “Some tumours are gone or are shrinking,” Celia said.
She hopes her and her family can make up for the lost time and can hopefully spend more time together soon.
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