Couple meets during cancer treatments, gets married

This appreciate tale is straight out of a Nicholas Sparks or John Eco-friendly tear-jerker.

Alexis Gould Stafford, 21, was going through chemotherapy at a children’s hospital when she fulfilled her potential partner, Ricky Stafford, 23, who was in remission and there for a check-up.

“Our tale is related to ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’” Alexis informed Kennedy Information, comparing their courtship to the 2014 movie about a teenage couple who fulfill and fall in adore in a most cancers help group. “But it is not a pretty pleased motion picture — when I think back again on my daily life and on our story — it is a satisfied story and that’s the change.”

The few met at Main Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, in 2016, after Alexis, then 15, read new music blasting from then 17-12 months-previous Ricky’s home.

“I thought it was going to be a minor boy but Ricky was tall with dim thick hair — he was in remission at the time. He arrived out and begun dancing and introducing himself and we grew to become mates appropriate absent,” Alexis said.

Alexis had been identified with phase four neuroblastoma — most cancers of the nerves — in September 2015 and expended considerably of the following 17 months as an in-individual, enduring six rounds of powerful chemo, 4 key surgical procedures, two stem mobile transplants and countless other therapies.

Ricky had been identified with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — most cancers affecting white blood cells — in February 2014 and underwent 5 months of powerful chemo followed by two several years of oral chemo.

“I was sensation on your own simply because most of the young children at the hospital were young, so to have any person who was close to my age and understood what I was heading as a result of just made anything so a lot easier,” Alexis explained.

The teens quickly turned most effective pals as they bonded over their sickness and currently being two of the oldest kids in the medical center.

The two continued their friendship as Ricky visited Alexis in the medical center even though she underwent cure about the upcoming yr.

“As a teenage kid, at times you prioritize actual physical characteristics but in that scenario, Lexi was bald and actually little and skinny and did not have any eyelashes or something like that. But what drew me to her was just her smile and the spirit that accommodated her — she just has a way of generating persons really feel loved without having even declaring anything at all,” Ricky shared.

“I was very knowledgeable she was in the center of some thing pretty large, having just long gone via most cancers myself not far too extended right before.”

However, Ricky’s overall health deteriorated and his cancer returned the future year even though he was in Boston, Massachusetts, on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in April 2017.

Alexis wished to support her most effective mate as he had completed for her and began traveling to Boston to be with him. That is when the two understood their legitimate emotions for a person yet another and fell in adore.

“It built all the variance in the environment to have her there as a result of my cancer journey,” Ricky said.

“Having anyone there who you love and enjoys you is type of critical when you are likely through trials in daily life. It can make you want to battle more durable but it also can make the journey easier for the reason that you’re not enduring the suffering by you, you are sharing some of that body weight.”

Seeking to just take edge of every little bit of lifestyle they had remaining, Ricky proposed to Alexis just two months into relationship. He popped the query on the anniversary of his leukemia prognosis, Feb. 24, 2018.

Regardless of his ongoing battle with most cancers, the couple was married on Sept. 15 of that yr — the anniversary of the working day Alexis was diagnosed with cancer — at 18 and 19 years outdated.

“I think I was a tiny bit egocentric inquiring her to marry me at that moment simply because I had just been diagnosed with cancer again and I did not have a work or a game prepare. But I asked her to marry me mainly because I necessary someone who comprehended what I was likely by means of to be there for me mainly because I was afraid,” Ricky explained of the final decision.

“A whole lot of individuals would run from a scenario like that but Lexi did not operate and I’m so grateful for that.”

Alexis was not expecting the proposal but was delighted to acknowledge and commence her daily life with Ricky. “We understood that existence isn’t generally promised and we resolved to expend what time we have with each other,” Alexis mentioned.

“He stunned me and proposed on the day of the anniversary of when he was diagnosed and then we bought married on my analysis working day — we took the challenging dates and made them a rationale to smile,” she extra.

The couple commenced their engagement during Ricky’s relapse, but he was able to end his extreme chemo remedy just two months right before they tied the knot. He ongoing to choose oral steroids for yet another two a long time and last but not least went into remission in January 2020.

But the Stafford’s struggles weren’t over but. Numerous months after Ricky began remission, Alexis’ wellness took yet another turn for the worse that December. She started to bleed internally though possessing biopsies carried out to exam for a likely tumor, and by January 2021 she was in hospice.

The good news is following 3 months, with the steady support of her finest close friend-turned-spouse, Alexis conquer the odds but all over again, recovering more than enough to be discharged.

“I’m five years most cancers-no cost now and Ricky is technically in remission but in a couple of decades he’ll be verified most cancers-totally free as perfectly,” she reported.

“Now we’re just concentrating on spending whichever time we have alongside one another and earning the most out of daily life.”