Nationwide — Martha Jenkins Wilson, an African American mother from Valdosta, Georgia, received her final wish when her son married his fiancée beside her hospital bed, battling cancer. She died the next day, but not before witnessing the wedding she had always dreamed of attending.
Samuel B. Wilson and Nakiuma Wade held a bedside wedding for his mother at South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC). The staff transformed her hospital room into a makeshift chapel in under 12 hours, according to People.
Wilson said the moment meant everything, sharing that his mother had always been clear — she only planned to attend one wedding: her son’s. Wade, who works as an ICU nurse at the same hospital, recalled her mother-in-law saying, “I want to dance with my baby.”
The wedding took place on April 11th. Martha died the next day after a battle with cancer.
Two weeks later, on May 3, the couple held a formal ceremony. Though Wilson’s mother was no longer there, Wade said they could still feel her presence.
Family members had gathered at her bedside during her final moments. “All of us at the bedside when she went was everything because it’s a lot of times people lose family members, and nobody is at the bedside. But we were able to be there with her, so I knew Saturday she would be so proud that she could dance with her baby,” Wade shared. “She told every listening ear, and they were able to tell everybody. And that’s what she would have wanted.”
SGMC Health shared photos of the emotional ceremony on Facebook, calling it “a moment full of love” and thanking the Wilson and Wade families for letting them be part of it.