THE Alexandra Hills State School community has rallied to make a heart-rending wedding dream come true.
Their efforts meant that Liz Riggs and John Snowdon were married on Saturday, March 16.
Sadly, Mrs Snowdon, 32, passed away on Saturday.
After a terminal cancer diagnosis in December, Mrs Snowdon's last wish was to marry her partner of 15 years.
The couple have a nine-year-old daughter Tahlia, who is a student at Alexandra Hills State School.
The efforts of the school community culminated with the wedding Liz and John had longed for.
Mr Snowdon said it was a happy story of pain.
"I did it for a final last wish for Liz," he said.
At 11, Mrs Snowdon had her first serious medical diagnosis. It was then that she received a mechanical heart valve and pacemaker after being diagnosed with a genetic disorder called neurofibromas type 1, or NF1, and scoliosis.
In October 2017, doctors diagnosed her with cancer caused by NF1. She had a tumour around the nerve in her neck.
Surgeons tried to remove as much of the tumour as they could, and Mrs Snowdon underwent radiation.
But in September, her tumour had returned and doctor's amputated her right arm and shoulder.
By the end of December the cancer had been detected again and the family told that it was terminal.
Mrs Snowdon was put into palliative care on January 26.
Mr Snowdon said the couple had wanted to get married during their years together but the time was either not right or they did not have the money.
"We had put it on the backburner for a long time," he said.
Mrs Snowdon's best friend Angela O'Meara had suggested the couple could get married and she worked with friends and parents at the school to make the couple's wedding dream come true.
They set up a crowdfunding page to help fund the special day.
Mr and Mrs Snowdon were married in the St Vincent's Private Hospital chapel with flowers, a cake and catering organised for them.
Instead of the six guests they had originally planned, 30 people were there to celebrate the occasion.
The school chaplain was the celebrant.
Capalaba business Ferrari Formalwear provided a tuxedo with tails for Mr Snowdon.
"The school and Angela as the main instigator of the wedding kept a lot of the details away from me," Mr Snowdon said.
"They wanted everything to be a surprise.
"I just had to show up in the tuxedo and stand in the aisle."
Mr Snowdon said he was greatly appreciative for the efforts people put in to enable their wedding day to go ahead.
"The St Vincent's Private Hospital has been exceptional and the Alexandra Hills State School community," he said.
"If it was not for all those guys, it would not have been much of a wedding.
"It is pretty overwhelming. They made a final wish come true."
"It shows that community spirit is still here in the Redlands."
