A U.K. mom who feared her dream vacation wedding would be cancelled after her toddler was admitted to hospital has revealed the celebration went ahead after a last-minute recovery. Emily Clark, 31, and her fiancee Ashley Moorcroft, 37, had spent 18 months planning their wedding in Cyprus, where they were due to be joined by more than 30 friends and family members. Just days before the ceremony, however, Emily told Newsweek that Millie became seriously unwell with breathing difficulties.
When her breathing became more and more labored, the mom knew she needed medical attention right away. According to Emily, she was vomiting and became extremely lethargic, and almost "lifeless" at times. "I don’t think I’ve ever felt heartbreak like it," Emily said.
"I’ve gone from thinking about flowers, dresses and the wedding we’ve spent 18 months planning to thinking about nebulizers, steroids, antibiotics, X-rays and whether my little girl can breathe properly." Millie underwent blood tests and a chest X-ray at a hospital, and received multiple nebulizer treatments, along with steroids and antibiotics. The chest X-ray revealed increased peribronchial and interstitial markings, changes that can indicate inflammation in and around the airways. "We should have been enjoying the final few days before becoming husband and wife," Emily said.
"Instead, our little girl [was] in hospital." Millie has Type 1 diabetes, which has added another layer of worry for the parents. Emily and Ashley are used to constantly monitoring her health, but seeing Millie struggling to breathe was a "completely different level of fear." Being in a foreign hospital away from their usual medical team and support network has also been an ordeal for the family. "When your child is struggling to breathe, your whole world stops," Emily said.
"You aren’t thinking about anything else except getting them better. You’re trying to understand what doctors are telling you, keep your child calm, deal with your own fear and make decisions, all while being somewhere completely unfamiliar." With their upcoming wedding day overshadowed by concern for Millie, the couple said their priority was having her home and healthy. While they were eager to marry as planned, they said they could not imagine celebrating without her by their side and would have postponed the wedding if she remained in hospital.
"At the end of the day, I’m her mom," Emily said before Millie's recovery. "I desperately want to marry Ashley and have our family together for the day we’ve dreamed about, but we won’t do it without Millie. We need her home, well and with us." "Seeing her improve has been overwhelming," Emily told Newsweek after Millie was discharged.
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