Bride marries from hospital bed just hours before cancer takes her life

Heather Mosher had planned to marry her fiancée Dave Mosher on the second-last day of 2017. But the Connecticut couple realized she wouldn’t make it.

So instead, they exchanged vows in a hospital chapel on Dec. 22. Eighteen hours later, she died from cancer.

READ MORE: Mother with terminal cancer gets dying wish to see daughter get married

Photos of the wedding ceremony, posted about a week ago by bridesmaid Christina Karas, have since gone viral.

“What you clearly see here is two people who were destined to be joined as one,” Karas wrote on Facebook.

In another post, Karas wrote about Dave, saying that his love made the bride stronger through her difficult bout with cancer.

“I am in awe of the strength Dave’s love inspired in Heather even in her last hours,” she wrote. “She was his great love and he was hers. I pray these moments give Dave the same strength now to carry on the legacy of their love.”

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Heather was diagnosed with breast cancer on Dec. 23, 2016 — the same day Dave had planned to propose. He went ahead with the proposal that day, despite the life-changing news.

“I said to myself, ‘she needs to know she’s not going to go down this road alone,'” Dave told WFSB News.

Together, they battled the disease. But it eventually spread to her brain, and that’s when the reports grew more bleak. By October, Heather was on life support.

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“The doctor said we know you want to get married on Dec. 30, but if you want to get married, you should move it up,” Dave said in an interview with CBS News.

Dave explained he knew during the wedding that this was their “last time” truly being together.

READ MORE: Calgary bride who married after receiving terminal cancer diagnosis dies

“It seemed like the strangest funeral I had ever been to. It took so much of her energy, especially that day, to be able to speak, to be able to breathe.”

The last words Heather said were her vows.

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Now, Dave says he’s moving forward with life — with a lesson Heather taught him.

“Heather said, ‘I want to keep fighting,’ and that’s kind of the mantra I’m picking up. She was able to fight ’til the end, I’m going to fight ’til my end.”