A three-year-old cancer survivor was the flower girl in her bone marrow donor’s wedding, and we’re sobbing
Sometimes the world can feel like a dark and scary place, and it can be all too easy to forget that there are good things happening all around us every single day. Which is exactly why we’re crying happy tears over the story of Skye Savren-McCormick, a 3-year-old cancer survivor who just served as flower girl in her bone marrow donor’s wedding.
We’re not crying — you are!
Skye was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia when she was less than a year old. Doctors gave her less than a 10% chance of survival and told her family she would need a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible. And that’s where Hayden Hatfield Ryals of Alabama comes in.
Hayden, 26, had registered to become a bone marrow donor through the nonprofit Be the Match when she was in college. “It’s the easiest thing. It’s a cheek swab — swab your cheek, put it in an envelope and they send it off…I thought there’s like a one in a gazillion chance that I would ever be a match,” she said in a June interview with the Dothan Eagle.
But she WAS a match, and with baby Skye. Hayden didn’t hesitate when she found out she could help save a life (even though donations are all completely anonymous, so she didn’t know whose life it would be). Shortly after she donated, she sent an anonymous letter through Be the Match to Skye’s family, letting them know she was thinking of them. Skye’s mom, Talia Savren-McCormick, sent an anonymous letter back, and from there they decided to connect via email, calls, and texts.
Then, for Skye’s third birthday, Hayden invited her to be a flower girl in her wedding (the pair had never actually met in person). Skye and Hayden first met at the wedding rehearsal, at which point Skye’s mom told CNN, “She [Hayden] came in and immediately came over to Skye and dropped to her knees. Skye gave her a big hug. The whole night they were sitting together. It was so sweet. It was like they were in love.”
Skye's mom went on to say, "I look forward to the years to come with Skye growing up and continuing this relationship with Hayden, and watching Hayden grow up, too."
The couple’s wedding photographer, Jeannie Broadway, told the site that “[t]here wasn’t a dry eye in the room” as Skye walked down the aisle dropping flowers. “You could even hear sobs from people.”
And perhaps the best part of this whole story? Little Skye is currently in remission.
If you’re interested in registering to become a bone marrow donor and potentially saving a life, you can visit the Be the Match website for more information.
