A dog owner brought her wedding forward so that her cancer stricken dog could attend the celebration.
Estelle Harris, 34, was all set to wed her partner Danny in May 2019, in Moira, Derbyshire, but her plans got dashed when her pooch Bruce fell ill just before Christmas. He was diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer after vets found a tumor the size of a grapefruit and was given just one to four months time to live.
Estelle decided to rearrange her wedding in just three weeks, at a cost of £600, so that he could be a part of her special day. Estelle says, ‘Having Bruce with me on my wedding day was the most important thing.’ Bruce’s is not in great shape but is alive while Estelle is enjoying the first weeks of her marriage.
Estelle talks about her bond with Bruce, saying, ‘It’s hard to put into words how much I love him. I’ve got no children and he’s the first dog that I’ve had since leaving home. My love for him is unbelievable. I’ve lost grandparents before, but knowing that I’m losing him hurts me more. I knew he had to be at our wedding, there was no question of it.’
Estelle became worried about Bruce in early December when he failed to greet her at the door when she returned home from her job as a warehouse operative. He was struggling to breathe and his gums had turned white before his tongue began to turn blue because of oxygen deficiency.
At the vet, they discovered he had fluid build-up around his heart and lungs, and found a huge tumor attached to his rib cage, and realized he had no chance of survival.
They cancelled their previous wedding booking on 4th May 2019 and rescheduled by bringing their wedding forward by 4 months to 26th January which meant they lost more than £600 in cancellation charges, and some of the guests being unable to attend at such notice.
On their wedding day, Bruce wore a tuxedo matching Danny’s, and arrived at the ceremony in his own car. Estelle carried a good luck horseshoe featuring her beloved pooch’s photo attached to her bouquet. She said, ‘Bruce is so funny and very much a mummy’s boy. Danny has two children, I have none. Bruce is my child, a four-legged one. But I still love him as much as a human child. He’s my world and nothing will ever come close to me and Bruce.’
Congratulations to this beautiful couple and prayers and much love to Bruce.