Dad Who Promised to Walk Daughter Down Aisle Has Died
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iStock/Thinkstock(CLEVELAND) — An Ohio father who walked his daughter down the aisle on a gurney at her wedding has died less than three weeks after fulfilling his promise.
Scott Nagy, 56, who had been bed-ridden since August, died of complications related to his debilitating cancer at University Hospitals in Cleveland on Monday.
“He was pretty compromised two weeks ago when he went to the wedding,” said hospital spokesman Vic Gideon. “He just wanted to live long enough to walk his daughter down the aisle.”
Nagy had refused to break his promise he made back in March to walk his only daughter, Sarah, down the aisle on her wedding day.
“He promised that he’d be there and he was,” Sarah Nagy told ABC News.
Scott Nagy arrived at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Strongsville, Ohio, on Oct. 12 in an ambulance. He wore a tuxedo and smiled and held his daughter Sarah’s hand as he was wheeled down the aisle on a gurney.
“When I walked out and saw him there, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t focus,” said Sarah Nagy. “There was my dad sitting there in his tuxedo, looking amazing and wondering why I was crying.”
At the wedding Sarah said her father said to her, “This should be a happy day. Wipe those tears off your face. We’re not crying down the aisle.”
The proud father smiled the entire way down the aisle.
Nagy was diagnosed with urethral cancer in 2012 and underwent chemotherapy. Sarah got engaged in February and her father was responding positively to his medication and doing well. The wedding was originally planned for 2014.
“He was up and about and we all figured he’ll be there, no problem,” his wife, Jean Nagy, told ABC News.
Then at the end of August, Nagy took a turn for the worse and it became clear that his time might be limited. When the decision was made to have the wedding in the fall, a team of people mobilized to make it happen for the family.
Jacky Uljanic, nurse practitioner from the hospital, visited the church and reception hall to take care of the logistics for the family. She helped Nagy with therapy to build up his strength. A medical transport group donated the ambulance trip and doctors, EMTs and nurses insisted on working on their day off to help the family.
Nagy was too tired to make it to the reception, but someone donated a projector and he gave his toast via a remote video connection.
“It was so beautiful and the thing was all these people donated their time and efforts,” Jean Nagy said. “They were all there and they just did it. It was so phenomenal and made everyone very happy.”
The family has since set up a fundraising page to “pay it forward” and help other terminally ill people make their dying wishes come true. There have been nearly $3,000 of contributions to the fund so far.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio