This is the heartbreaking moment a dying father 'walked' his daughter down the aisle at her wedding ceremony.
This is the heartbreaking moment a dying father "walked" his daughter down the aisle for her wedding while lying on a stretcher.
Pedro Villarin, 65, was suffering from terminal liver cancer, but it was his last wish to walk his daughter Charlotte Villarin down the aisle for her wedding to Mark Cordova.
The couple brought the date forward by two months when Pedro's health began to deteriorate to ensure he was there.
Pedro Villarin, 65, fulfilled his dying wish to walk his daughter, Charlotte, down the aisle on her wedding day. Photo / Law Tapalla Photography / Australscope
He had been bedridden after battling cancer for a year, so the family hired an ambulance and a private nurse to take him to the ceremony in the city of Las Pinas, part of the Philippines' National Capital Region of Metro Manila.
The plan was for Mr Villarin to escort his daughter down the aisle in a wheelchair but he was not strong enough, so they used the ambulance stretcher instead.
He passed away on August 12, three days after the ceremony.
Relatives and wedding organisers helped to pull the stretcher towards the altar while the dying man held onto his daughter's hand.
"This was really an emotional moment," Ms Villarin said. "My father's one wish was to see his daughter married and we made it come true for him.
His daughter later revealed the sad news that her father had died within days of the ceremony.
Charlotte kisses her father as he arrives at her wedding ceremony. Photo / Law Tapalla Photography / Australscope
Ms Villarin said: "That wedding was really for him because he wanted to walk with me to the altar and witness my wedding since, according to him, I was his favorite daughter."
She also said that she had feared her father would not be able to attend the ceremony as he had recently been admitted to hospital in extreme pain.
"We were going back and forth in the hospital beforehand," she said.
"We hired an ambulance and a private nurse. We thought he would be able to sit on a wheelchair, but he couldn't take it and used the stretcher from the ambulance instead.
"But he really sacrificed because he felt pain in that moment. And we thank God for allowing that to happen."
Sharing a photograph of her kissing her father during the wedding on social media, Ms Villarin said: "Papu, I love you so much."
She added: "It was really painful. But knowing that he left this world, fulfilling his dream, I'm happy already no matter what."
Charlotte Vallarin wed Mark Cordova in a bittersweet ceremony. Photo / Law Tapalla Photography / Australscope
The wedding video and photographs have been shared on social media where they are proving a moving experience for users.
One commenter, Aying Jomuad Babas, said: "A parent's love is priceless", while Rhea Nisola Osia commented: "This is love".
