‘He’s my everything.’ Cancer patient marries fiancee in ceremony at SLO hospital
Celebratory bubbles floated around the chapel as a cancer patient at French Hospital Medical Center walked his bride down the aisle on Wednesday.
Tomás Hernández, 26, is battling stage four cancer — but that didn’t stop him from marrying his fiancee Kassandra Salcedo at the hospital’s Swanson Family Chapel.
“He’s my everything,” Salcedo said in a news release from the hospital. “I will be there for him for all of my life. He’s the most important person in my world, and I will always be there to support him and love him.”
The pair celebrated their 10-year anniversary on Oct. 4, and Hernández then shared with hospital staff that he wished to marry his fiancee.
“We always wanted something small — but nice,” Hernández said. “We always talked about 10 or 15 people at our wedding, but now we decided to just go for it. If it wasn’t for the nurses and everyone here, we wouldn’t be married today.”
In just one day, hospital staff obtained rings for the ceremony, worked with the San Luis Obispo County Clerk Recorder’s Office to organize the marriage certificate, and acquired a cake, sparkling apple cider and champagne for the wedding.
French Hospital’s Hearst Cancer Resource Center arranged for Hernández’s mother to travel from Mexico to attend the wedding.
“It was truly a team effort,” hospital president and CEO Sue Andersen said in the news release. “Everyone, from the nurses to the nutritional services team, and our foundation and staff at the Hearst Cancer Resource Center, came together to make this happen. It was a beautiful reminder of the power of compassion and the human spirit.”
Hospital supervisor of environmental services Monica Ruelas said she was happy that the hospital could organize the ceremony for the couple.
“Seeing his face when he talks about how much he loves her and how important it is for him to do this — we had to make it happen,” Ruelas said in the news release. “That’s what it’s all about — our patients and making sure we give them everything that they need. Whatever we can do to brighten his spirits and make his day, and this definitely, I think, did it.”
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 12:05 PM.
