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As soon as Hayden Hatfield started walking down the alley, his eyes focused on his flower girl
The bride thought of their special bond – years ago, she had donated her bone marrow to help the toddler to fight a rare form of childhood leukemia. They stayed in touch through letters and phone calls and toys and trinkets sent by mail. They had become like a family. Now that Hatfield was getting married, she said, it meant for her to have the three-year-old baby at her side on June 9th.
"I did not want to leave her eyes" says about the moment she saw Skye Savren-McCormick who was waiting at the altar of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Hartford, Alabama
" Knowing that she was not only there but that she was part of this life event for me, I was the most humble person.They do not understand how much they are important to me, "she said about Skye and her parents.
[‘I could feel his heartbeat’: Bride asks her dad’s heart recipient to walk her down the aisle]
Hatfield, now Hayden Ryals, 26, was registered as a bone marrow donor in 2015 when she was struggling, she was changing to major at Auburn University and was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her life and who she wanted to be. It was almost exactly a year later when she received a phone call – she was a match to an anonymous child of 1 year away from several miles.
"I had started to ask if I had a goal here, "she said. "This phone call has given me a purpose."
Skye Savren-McCormick, 3. (Mark Broadway Photography)
After Skye was born in 2015, she developed petechiae, or bruises, said his father, Todd Savren-McCormick. The bruising eventually disappeared but then returned, and the child continued to fall ill. Four days before her first birthday, after months of doctor appointments and unanswered questions, Skye was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer according to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On July 28, 2016, Alabama doctors took some of the bone marrow from Ryals and the next day doctors in California transplanted it into Skye's bloodstream.
It would be a long way to recovery. Skye's father in Ventura, California, said her daughter had developed a bacterial infection and her spleen had been removed because of cancer complications. She then needed a second transplant – which was possible because Ryals had given enough bone marrow for two procedures, he said.
As Skye was recovering from the second bone marrow transplant, Savren-McCormick began to swell and the doctors diagnosed her with a second form of cancer – post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease. She had attacked her eyelid on both sides of her neck, chest, and spine, her father said.
She needed chemotherapy, which meant that she needed another transplant
Savren-McCormick Because there are donation regulations, they returned to the Be the Match registry and found another donor – this time using peripheral blood stem cells instead of bone marrow. But, the father said, "If Hayden had not donated his bone marrow, our daughter would not have made his other gift." She took us to a place where we could survive that. "
But Ryals said that she did not save the toddler.
"It has always been the other way around," she said. "She helped me … She saved me … She's the real hero."
Hayden Ryals poses with her flower girl, Skye Savren-McCormick. (Mark Broadway Photography)
In the past year, the two families have been in contact with each other, but have never met face to face. In March, Ryals sent a very special gift to Skye for her 3rd birthday – an Elsa doll from the movie "Frozen", a Poppy blanket from the "Trolls" and an invitation to her wedding.
"I said that I wanted them to know how much I love them and how much they are wanted," said Ryals.She said that even though she knew it was a blow from fire, she mentioned how nice it would be for Skye to be her flower girl.
Skye's father said that the toddler was under oxygen and was fighting graft disease against him. host, a complication from stem cell transplants.But, he said, as the date of marriage approached, Skye was getting better, so they took her to Hartford. 19659019] Ryals and Skye met for the first time at the church a day before the wedding.Ryals said that when she came in, she was overwhelmed by emotion.She walked towards Skye, she said, and fell to her knees.
Ryals said that Skye's mother asked the toddler who was Ryals and she replied, "Hay-Hay," her nickname for Ryals. She kissed Ryals.
"It was like a fairy tale," says Ryals. She said that she thought, "I can not believe I finally meet this little girl. . . It was unreal. It was magical. "
On June 9, Skye entered the chapel, opening the way with flower petals, as she had been practicing – walking, walking, giving up – her father said.
Ryals says that there was no drought. "
" It was amazing to me how many ropes she was pulling at the same time, "she said.
Then Ryals went downstairs. went to marry her fiance, Adrian, wearing a draped bouquet of something from Skye and her parents – a gold medallion with Skye's photo hidden on one side and a message engraved on it. other: "This heart beats with yours."
"I have never been able to describe our connection, I have never been able to explain it", did she said. "It was the most perfect way I've ever heard her describe."
During the ceremony, Skye was sitting quietly on the steps of the altar, playing with the leaves on u fern next door and pulling the bow on her dress. 19659030] Ryals said that she felt like she had known Skye and her parents all her life.
Skye's father was in agreement
"It's like we have a new family in Alabama and it's been merry".
Adrian and Hayden Ryals with their flower daughter, Skye Savren-McCormick, 3 years old. (Mark Broadway Photography)
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