Jessica Davis lost her father in 2009 to ALS when she was in eighth grade.
Weddings are special but it is also a day when loved ones who are no longer with us are missed. Jessica Davis lost her father in 2009 to ALS when she was in eighth grade. So when she decided to tie the knot in April 2022, she had to choose who would walk her down the aisle. She decided to bestow the honor upon her doctor and friend Dr. Alex Yu.
Davis met Yu when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor as a freshman in college. Yu is a vice-chair of neurosurgery for Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburg, who cared for Yu as she recovered for the last eight years, as reported by PEOPLE.
Yu said that it was an "honor of a lifetime to be able to do this for someone and to have someone who does value" him. "It reminds you that there's obviously a purpose to life ... And my purpose was to take care of her and walk her down the aisle."
Davis was diagnosed with a grade two meningioma, a non-cancerous brain tumor. That's when she met Yu who worked with her to come up with a treatment plan. Yu, according to Davis was "very confident" and had a calm demeanor that assured her that everything "was going to feel all right."
After the surgery, Davis traveled to Pittsburgh to meet Yu every six months for an MRI to make sure that her disease had not returned. During her visits, she used to jokingly ask if he would walk her down the aisle if she ever got married. "He would probably say that I would never get married. Pretty much anybody would tell you that because I am very independent," she said. "I'd be like, 'If I ever do get married would you want to walk me down the aisle,' and he said, "Of course,'" according to TODAY.
Six years later when she actually decided to get married to her now-husband, Robbie Davis, she was unsure if he remembered the offer. "I was like, 'How do I ask him? Do I want to ask him? I feel like I would be embarrassed like what if he says no,'" Davis said. "Then I asked, and he goes, 'Oh my gosh, I thought you forgot about it.'" Davis said that "it was a dream come true."
When patient Jessica Davis needed someone to step in and walk her down the aisle this past spring, she knew just who to ask. 👰 Read about the lasting impact AHN neurosurgeon Dr. Alex Yu made on her life in this article from the @PittsburghPG. https://t.co/vtDhKdnEdv pic.twitter.com/dpzyGrgIKX
— AHN (@AHNtoday) October 5, 2022
"I've never walked anyone down the aisle," Yu added. "It was one of those moments where you feel the range of emotions. You feel grateful. You feel love and then at one point I was like, 'All right, we can't fall. We've got to get down the aisle.'"
Davis shared her story hoping that it will inspire others "to never give up hope." "If you keep focusing on the past, you're never going to be happy," she said. "It's always going to be a part of you. But it's hard to be happy if you just focus on the negativity."
References:
https://www.today.com/health/mind-body/bride-asks-doctor-walk-aisle-brain-surgery
https://people.com/human-interest/doctor-walks-bride-down-aisle-after-brain-surgery/
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | FG Trade
