The bride presented him with something he thought he could never have back.
The last thing one would expect at a wedding is for the bride or the groom to halt the ceremony. What ensues would be panic all around. While the partner is clueless about what could have gone wrong, the family members and the guests are equally curious.
Last year, in 2019, Derick Smith went through almost a similar situation only to find out that all was well. In fact, his bride, Katy had gone out of her way to present him with something so special that he couldn't stop himself from crying his heart out.
The groom's only wish was to have his brother by his side as his best man but that could not be fulfilled because years ago Derick lost his brother, according to Inside Edition. Jack was just 12 years old when he lost his life in a tragic accident. That day not only took Derick's brother away from him but also his best friend. Though the family stood together through the tough times, they still missed Jack every minute of the day.
As the years went by, Derick moved on with his life keeping Jack always in the back of his mind. Then he found Katy who occupied another part of his heart that was only owned by Jack till now. They fell in love and decided to cement their relationship with holy matrimony. Even though it was a happy occasion for Derick, he still missed his brother deeply.
But Katy had taken care of it. She felt if she couldn't bring Jack back, she could always bring the person who owed her life to Jack.
"I had asked Derick's mom, I said, you know this is going to be a really personal question, and you can tell me no, but I'm really interested in trying to find the person that received Jake's heart and would you be willing to do that?” Katy told Inside Edition. “She cried and she was really happy and she said, 'Absolutely, I think this will be a great idea,’" she continued.
After a year of intense search, she finally found the human who was alive with Jack's heart beating inside her, Gracie Wilkinson. After his death, the family had decided to donate his organs but never got the chance to meet the people who received it in person, until this day. Gracie was 6 when she received Jack's heart.
"I found out her name and I found her on Facebook, and so I sent her a message... within two minutes she responded saying, ‘Absolutely, I would love to be there, just tell me when and where and I will be there,’" revealed Katy.
Just before the ceremony began, Katy broke the tradition and met the groom to give him the news about the special guest who was going to join them. Derick who was clueless about who the guest was couldn't believe that his bride-to-be took so much effort to make their day extra special. The whole emotional scene was captured in a video.
When Derick and Gracie met, they couldn't help but break down in happy tears. “I'm glad you came... I'm glad my brother was able to help you," sobbed Derick, while Gracie said, "Thank you for having me." She then gifted him a keychain with Jack's EKG etched on one side. If that wasn't pulling at our heartstrings enough, she then pulled out a stethoscope to make Derick listen to his brother's heartbeat.
This was it for the sentimental groom. "What it was like to hear his heartbeat was a flood of different emotions,” Derick said crying and continued, "There's not a word to describe it. She gave me the gift of closure."
Gracie on the other hand was full of praises for Katy. She said that it was very "selfless" of Katy for letting her be a part of their big day. She added, "Getting to meet everyone and getting to be part of their day and a part of that moment for Derick and kind of bringing Derick some closure from losing his brother means the absolute world to me."
Watch the emotional moment:
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