ALBANY, N.Y. — A four-year old cancer patient became good pals with one of her male nurses, and decided she wanted to “marry” him, so he graciously agreed.
“Are you happy to be married?” asked a reporter.
“Yeah! This is my first time to be married,” said four-year-old cancer patient Abby Sayles.
At the tender age of four, Abby Sayles believes she has met her knight in the shining armor wearing hospital scrubs.
“Matt is awesome and caring,” said Abby.
Matt Hickling is Abby’s nurse at Albany Medical Center’s Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer. He’s been by her side for the past year as she battled pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A deep bond grew between Abby and Hickling. And then, she decided it was time to pop the question.
“I sent him a text message just to give him a heads up that this was an idea that was in her head, just so he was not in shock,” said Renee Sayles, Abby’s mother.
“When she comes to the clinic tomorrow, she plans to ask me to be married to her,” said Hickling.
The hospital staff wasted no time after the little girl popped the question.
A coworker lent Hickling a tuxedo t-shirt, staff bought a few bouquets, and they laid down an aisle of rose petals.
There wasn’t any organ music, so they improvised by humming “Here Comes the Bride.”
“It means the world. They seriously make everything so much easier for us to deal with in this process,” said Renee Sayles.
“Just a great moment to share with this family and everyone, and what they go through from day to day, and to have her remember something like this. She can look back on it when she’s older and hopefully be really just touched by it,” said Hickling.
Abby’s mom says her daughter had a few setbacks in her recovery, but her long-term prognosis is good.
