The story of Laurin Bank and her loving husband Michael is a very special, heartfelt, eye-watering and emotional one. The woman had been dealing with cancer for a couple of years and while she was declared cancer-free back in 2017, doctors came with terrible news not long afterward that the terrible disease had returned.
Laurin and Michael were engaged, but the doctors urged her to move up the wedding date because she wouldn’t make it otherwise.
However, the brave and strong woman has completely neglected and defied the advice. There was simply no chance that her big day would have to be moved, the date was already set. On March 24th, Laurin and Michael would exchange their vows.
And they did.
Even though the 30-year-old woman was battling stage 4 cancer, she defied the odds and got married as planned.
The couple met while Laurin was battling breast cancer, for which she received chemotherapy and had to endure a double mastectomy.
When the cancer returned, doctors tried another round of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy was far less effective this time, and the cancer had already spread in her bones, liver and ultimately her lungs. Doctors told her it was terminal and that she had to move up her wedding date.
“We told them no, we had a special date,” she said to The State.
“We felt like moving that date was giving up and giving in to the cancer and letting it run our lives. We didn’t want to give in. That was our goal … and I was able to walk down the aisle to my husband. I was able to dance with him and I didn’t need a wheelchair or oxygen. I did it I made it,” Laurin later added in an interview with PEOPLE.
The date, March 24th, was also the anniversary of their very first date together. Laurin kept being strong and on her wedding day, you couldn’t even tell she was dealing with this incredibly devastating disease as she danced all night and walked down the aisle with her brother David.
Unfortunately, both of Laurin’s parents passed away in her youth due to cancer.
During this difficult time, Michael was always her rock and support.
“I know he’s going to be there through sickness and in health. He’s my rock,” she told. “We’ve been through more in three years than most couples go through in 50.”
Upon learning about the severity of her condition, she said that she would spend the rest of her life with her husband, and she promised to make the best out of every day together.
Sadly, a little under seven months after her phenomenal wedding, Laurin passed away.
“It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our beautiful queen,” Michael Bank wrote. “She has left a huge (hole) in all of our hearts, and I am humbled to be her king. I was able carry her to bed and hold her until her last beautiful breath,” her husband wrote on Facebook.
It was an incredibly tough and difficult day, as not even morphine could help alleviate Laurin’s pain or comfort. She succumbed not long after.
It’s “been my honor to be by her side the past 3 1/2 years, and I would not trade the memories that we have made for anything in the world. She has made me so much a better person,” husband Michael praised.
Laurin had always hoped that she would able to inspire and influence others with her warm personality and never-give-up attitude.
“I know she has influenced so many people and she wants to be remembered as a celebration, not as a time for sadness.”
At her request, the family organized a celebration of life service instead of a regular memorial. “She wants it to be a joyful celebration in her memory,” the family said.
What an inspirational and brave woman, may she rest in peace.
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