A South Carolina bride with stage 4 cancer died after living long enough to see her wedding day.
Laurin Bank, 30, died Sunday in Columbia, leaving behind her husband Michael Bank, whom she married on March 24.
Bank’s doctors didn’t believe she would still be alive for her wedding after her cancer returned, People reported.
Laurin was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in September 2014. After undergoing chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, she was declared cancer-free in April 2015.
But two years later, doctors found that Laurin’s cancer returned as stage 4 and spread to her lungs, bones and liver in August 2017.
Doctors urged Laurin and Michael to move their March wedding date, predicting she wouldn’t live long enough to make it to the altar. But the couple stayed firm with their special day.
“We felt like moving that date was giving up and giving in to the cancer and letting it run our lives,” Laurin told People. “We didn’t want to give in. That was our goal … and I was able to walk down the aisle to my husband. I was able to dance with him and I didn’t need a wheelchair or oxygen. I did it I made it.”
A few weeks ago, Laurin wrote a Facebook post saying there was nothing more they could do about her condition and will be moving to home health care.
“The cancer is spreading like wildfire and the strongest possible dose of chemotherapy they can give me did not work. I am now to the point that chemotherapy is no longer an option,” she wrote on Oct. 11.
Michael wrote on Facebook that Laurin was not feeling well after returning from her aunt’s home on Sunday, the day she died.
“She has left a huge [hole] in all of our hearts, and [I] am humbled to be her king,” he wrote Monday. “I was able to carry her to bed and hold her until her last beautiful breath.”
Michael says he has no regrets with how their relationship played out, despite the ups and downs.
“Its been my honor to be by her side the past 3 and a half years and [I] would not trade the memories that we have made for anything in the world,” Michael said. “She has made me so much a better person.”
