Adam Turner and Emily Garcia on their wedding day
Kelly Costello Photography
Emily Garcia was volunteering on a skiing journey for youngsters along with cancer as soon as she met the man that would certainly become her husband.
The journey to Colorado held a special significance for Garcia, 24, that was diagnosed along with Osteosarcoma at age 11 and spent 9 years in and from treatment for the aggressive bone cancer. The Houston, Texas, native began volunteering along with organizations that support youngsters along with cancer as soon as she was 18.
Adam Turner, a physician’s assistant and Garcia’s future husband, had joined the journey as a medical representative. As Garcia explains, the pair didn’t very strike it off right away.
“I look truly young and as soon as we met he had no tip that I was actually 23,” Garcia tells PEOPLE. “He believed I was a teenager and later he told me, ‘I wasn’t considering you at every one of since I believed you were a kid.’ “
Once Turner realized that Garcia was actually a volunteer on the trip, both truly connected. “We went on a date right as soon as we got spine then we simply never ever stopped dating after that,” Garcia says.
In December 2014, Turner asked Garcia to fulfill her at the office of the organization that position with each other the ski trip.
“They have actually a truly nice spine patio and he had position lights and candles and pictures of us everywhere and he proposed,” she recalls. “I was on yet another planet somewhere – I was so shocked.”
As plans for the couple’s June wedding came together, Garcia reached out to a individual whose support and encouragement had carried her through nine years of chemotherapy – Leon Benavides, routine coordinator of the Children’s Art Project at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A Put to Be Normal
Garcia met Benavides soon after she was diagnosed along with osteosarcoma at age 11 in 2002. The young girl discovered chance in the Children’s Art Project, even as she faced aggressive bouts of chemotherapy and an unexpected amputation.
Emily Garcia and Leon Benavides
Courtesy Emily Garcia
The news that she would certainly gone her right leg to steer clear of the cancer from spreading crushed Garcia, that had constantly been really active.
“I wasn’t a happy camber as soon as I discovered out,” Garcia recalls. “I was rather angry at my situation, yet Leon and the nurses were truly encouraging and kept me on track.”
Through every one of the ups and downs, Benavides says his focus was on “attempting to make [Emily] feel adore a Regular teenager.”
Even as soon as Garcia discovered out that recovery from the surgery would certainly take nearly two months of hospitalization, Benavides was there. “Leon truly stepped up and he was like, ‘You’re gonna be right here for a month and a half? Well here’s a list, do every one of this children’s art project stuff,’ ” Garcia says. “And so he would certainly come to my room and he would certainly delivering much more supplies for me – it was truly awesome.”
“Art became an outlet for her,” Benavides explains. “She didn’t have actually to consider treatment, we could simply sit there and have actually fun.”
Emily poses along with among her artworks
Kevin McGowen Photography
Garcia bounced spine from surgery and along with the tips of a prosthetic, she was able to take pleasure in every one of the tasks she believed were lost to her. She was even able to join her higher school cheerleading squad.
A means to Provide Back
Garcia continued to have actually chemotherapy treatments until her freshman year of college. The second she turned 18, she signed up to volunteer along with the Children’s Art Project in the hopes that she could do for others young patients exactly what Benavides had done for her.
“I like it so much,” she says. “It’s weird for me to see younger youngsters that adore are going through specifically exactly what I went going through, yet it’s actually a truly excellent experience. Once they discover out I had cancer it comes to be a various type of partnership and I’m able to usage exactly what I’ve been through to tips them.”
This passion is exactly what brought Garcia to Colorado, connected her along with Turner and additionally helped her discover the ideal wedding cake! While volunteering at a summer camp for youngsters along with cancer along with Leon, Garcia was struck by the artist’s amazing cake-decorating abilities.
So, as she planned her wedding, Garcia knew there was just one man for the task of making the cake. “I hadn’t earned a cake adore that in a while, yet I came from retirement for her,” Benavides says along with a laugh.
Emily and Adam’s wedding cake, created and baked by Leon
Kelly Costello Photography
Benavides created a beautiful four-tiered wedding cake adorned along with handcrafted flours. He perfected it until the fairly last minute, jumping in to the automobile on the means to the wedding along with flour on his shirt and “icing everywhere,” he recalls.
The ceremony took Put at a train museum in Galveston, Texas. The event itself was “simply a blur,” says Garcia, that is loving married life.
Emily Garcia and Adam Turner at their wedding
Courtesy Emily Garcia
After such a romantic proposal, Garcia says she’s looking forward to their very first Valentine’s Day married to Turner. “Last year he told we weren’t carrying out anything for Valentine’s Day then he planned a big surprise,” she recalls. “He constantly likes to top exactly what I do, it’s truly sweet.”
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