LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Elizabeth Gajardo-Stitt was set to get married to her fiancé Drew on July 3. Every detail was planned. Then three weeks before the big day, her dad, Dr. Joel Gajardo, suffered a massive stroke on Father’s Day.
“It’s always a little girl’s dream to have your parents at your wedding,” Gajardo-Stitt said. “Especially to have your father walk you down the aisle.”
She wasn’t going to let a stroke, from which Joel wasn’t going to recover, take away that moment.
“I knew my dad wanted to see me get married, so I said let’s do this,” Gajardo-Stitt said.
So on Monday, Elizabeth put on her dress early and picked up her bouquet, while in a hospital room at Bryan East, a nurse dressed her dad.
“She put a nice outfit on him, got him a boutonniere,” Gajardo-Stitt said. “He was on his hospital bed unfortunately but I grabbed his hand and we walked down the aisle.”
Dr. Joel Gajardo was with his daughter and his now son-in-law as they exchanged vows, then rings.
It wasn’t the day they pictured.
“But it was more special,” Gajardo-Stitt said. “I feel honored to be his daughter. It of course wasn’t how I imagined the wedding day going, but it was equally as beautiful to have him on his final days walk me down the aisle.”
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