Mother-of-five with terminal cancer marries in bittersweet ceremony

A Saskatchewan woman with terminal stomach cancer was married in Edmonton Wednesday in a wedding funded by donations from friends and local businesses.

Megan Wolfe, 28, has been told by doctors she has two years left to live. In the past year she has also dealt with the death of her father in a trucking accident and the flooding of her home in Saskatoon.
On Wednesday, she was able to set her troubles aside for a few hours and marry her fiance Josh Melnyk. Most of their relatives live in Edmonton..
Like any bride, she got her hair and makeup done at a downtown salon, and then slipped into a beaded, strapless wedding gown for the ceremony at the posh Union Bank Inn.
“I feel pretty amazing, surprisingly,” she said at the salon. “Getting worked up for the wedding, so that's good. Not so sick today.”
The couple, who live in Saskatoon, first met four years ago.
“It was incredible. It was love at first sight,” Melnyk said. “I obviously got to know her and loved her more and more every day and just wanted to spend my life with her.”
Wolfe says Melnyk and her five children have kept her positive throughout her illness. But the reality of her situation is always there, and she worries about how her children will cope when she’s gone.
“I'm terrified,” she said before the ceremony. “I think about it all the time. My kids don't need to grow up with no mom.”
Businesses volunteered services
The wedding came together with the help of Melnyk’s cousin Shantell Scragg, who started an online campaign to raise money for the ceremony.
“So that she could wake up, and plan a wedding and not worry about her health, Scragg said.
“Not worry about a funeral, not worry about her children. She could wake up and wonder what colour her dress is going to be.”
A local internet start-up got businesses to volunteer services. Scragg says the generosity of strangers has blown her away and she thanks the people of Edmonton for helping out.
“Nobody really knows Megan and they never really have seen her but they're still giving,” she said. “It just made my heart melt.”
Wolfe and Melnyk wed in a late afternoon ceremony.  Afterwards, a beaming Wolfe and her new husband posed for photos outside the hotel with their children, family and friends.
Both Wolfe and Melnyk are thankful and honoured by the donations that made their wedding a reality.
“It lifted my spirits so much,” Wolfe said. “There are so many nice people out there and I can’t say thank you enough to them.”