Singapore—On October 10, the most popular wedding date of 2020, the charity Ambulance Wish Singapore helped make a terminally ill woman’s wish come true when she got to see her son get married.
Seventy-seven-year-old Madam Ng Yuet Hay, who has stage four pancreatic cancer, expressed her happiness at seeing her son wed.
The charity endeavours “to create positive end-of-life experience for terminally ill people through the fulfillment of their final wishes,” according to its Facebook page.
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On October 10, it posted photos from the ceremony, including one of mother and son side by side as she lay on a stretcher.
“Today we carried out a really sweet wish. Mdm Ng‘s wish is to attend her son’s wedding. It is our honour to be able to help Mdm Ng with her wish. The sweetest moment was when a beaming Mdm Ng joined the guests in applauding for the newlywed couple the moment they were pronounced husband and wife
It is in all likelihood, the sweetest, proudest moment for any parent.
Big thanks to our volunteer Yoke Ling for carrying out the wish. Also Caring Hearts Nursing and Comfort Ambulance for the professional and pleasant service as always.
With Mdm Ng joining her family in this joyous occasion, we have created precious memories that will last forever.”
Madam Ng was diagnosed with cancer in July, and her family was told that she likely only had one year left.
This caused her son, Chia Fu Yong, 35, to rush wedding preparations with his fiancee, Ms Tan Mei Xuan, 28. The straitstimes.com (ST) quotes Mr Chia as saying, “I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to see me wed. It’s very hard to say how long she has left.”
Mr Chia and Ms Tan were part of the 876 couples who got married on 10/10/2020, with Mdm Ng in happy attendance, thanks to Ambulance Wish Singapore. The charity had been told of the dying mum’s wish by a nurse from Dover Park Hospice who provides care for Mdm Ng at home.
The grateful son told ST, “I saw my mum smile during the solemnisation and I could see she was very happy. I’m very happy I fulfilled her wish.”
While the couple had gotten engaged at the beginning of the year and were looking at a 2021 wedding, plans were upended by Mdm Ng’s diagnosis, and so they finished planning their wedding in two months and scheduled the nuptials for Oct 10.
ST reports that Mdm Ng’s health began to fail two weeks before the wedding, with the family growing concerned that she would not make it to the scheduled date.
Fortunately, “I felt she hung on for my wedding,” Mr Chia told ST.
The couple got married at Marina One, with Mdm Ng in attendance on a stretcher, along with a nurse provided by Ambulance Wish.
“Madam Ng could barely speak, but she managed to whisper to the nurse and our volunteer that she was very happy. She was mostly quiet throughout, so seeing her break into a smile as she shared how happy she was was a memorable moment for us,” said the chairman of Ambulance Wish Singapore, Dr Ong Yew Jin to ST. —/TISG
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