Couple plans wedding in just 7 days so groom’s mom with stage 4 cancer could be there for son's big day

Is it possible to arrange a lavish wedding within a week? For most people, this might sound like a chaotic nightmare, but for Florida couple Samuel (Sam) and Brooke Falic, it became a reality. The reason behind this was heartbreaking. Sam’s world came to a standstill when his mom, Jana, was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer, as reported by PEOPLE. The 65-year-old Jana was told that the rare transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) kidney cancer she had was incurable, leaving her with little time to enjoy her son’s planned wedding in January 2024.

"We were at the doctor and her number one concern was the wedding," Sam told the outlet. "She had a specific song she always wanted for the mother-son dance and kept asking when she could go to the wedding and the doctors just said 'No.' She was getting worse. We had to move quickly." Jana also spoke about her diagnosis and admitted that she wanted to "look and feel good at her son's wedding." She added that now, when she looks at the wedding photos of her friends and family from that happy day, it gives her the strength to continue her battle. "My granddaughter made me an album and those are the reasons why I have to get better," Jana said.

Sam's bride, Brooke, revealed that the wedding preparations helped distract Jana from her health crisis. "I think she sort of forgot she was about to go through this extensive chemo journey," she mentioned. "And for just one week, everyone stopped crying and everyone was just so happy. Both of our families fully came together. There was no fighting, no arguing about anything.” Jana, on the other hand, didn’t have much choice but to begin an "immediate aggressive treatment program" that was sure to impact her quality of life, but it guaranteed her survival. Her other option was to choose pain management treatment and enjoy the remainder of her time.

Since Jana was scheduled to start her chemotherapy on July 4, 2023, Brooke and Sam began working on their wedding preparations with a tight deadline. "I sat down with my amazing fiancée and said I'll never forgive myself if God forbid she missed the dance she was always dreaming of doing," the groom revealed. "I'd rather get married in my backyard. I just want my mom there." Brooke had also faced a similar crisis to Sam's when her mom was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer and underwent chemotherapy for 10 years. "When my mom heard about this, she was on board with the wedding," Brooke mentioned. "She said we had to do it because she would have wanted this if she was in her shoes."

Sam's three older sisters divided the responsibilities for preparing the wedding. They set the date for July 3, 2023, and booked a venue, catering and other decorations for the wedding in Miami. Brooke also managed to get her dream Vera Wang wedding dress, which she initially thought would be a tough task. "The truth is that the wedding in January would never have been our dream wedding if Jana wasn't there," Brooke admitted. Everyone worked hard, took their responsibilities seriously and didn't complain. They even managed to organize a flash mob dance with 300 guests, which was posted on Sam's Instagram @sfalic. 

Wedding guests also readjusted their schedules to attend Sam and Brooke's Miami wedding. For those who couldn't, a Zoom call was set up so they could watch the event live from afar. "I started crying. I was so overwhelmed and grateful in that moment. I made eye contact with all these people who had to go through so much to be here," Brooke revealed. "I was so caught up in the planning that I forgot about all the friends, family and colleagues that were here in this room with us with 10 days' notice." She concluded by saying that people often attend weddings and complain about the small details, but nobody remembers those. What people actually remember are the happy bride and groom and the fun memories they cherish instead.

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