Bride fighting cancer will have her dream wedding

Ellen Sullivan is in the fight of her life as she battles cancer. The young Cape Cod mother had planned on a modest wedding at Sandwich Town Hall, but is now planning her dream wedding thanks to her kind-hearted community.

“It’s given me something to look forward to,” Ellen told me Wednesday. “It’s amazing. It’s very overwhelming but a good overwhelming. Now I can have the actual dream wedding that I wanted.”

Ellen, now 27, was 6 when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancer that mostly occurs in children and teens. She had chemotherapy and radiation treatments for two years and was cancer free until October 2018, just after the birth of her youngest daughter, Peyton.

Ellen had surgery to remove tumors in her heart and left lung, followed by chemotherapy. Her scans came back clear in June, and Ellen, her fiance, Kenny Lynch, her 5-year-old daughter, Audrey, and the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Peyton, spent the summer going on fun trips.

A painful headache in September sent Ellen back to the hospital. Doctors found tumors on her brain and removed the biggest one, and the cancer also came back on her lung. Ellen has been getting radiation treatments.

Ellen writes about her courageous journey on her Facebook blog, “Cancer, kids, coffee & chaos with Ellen.” So when Ashley McGuire, a local makeup artist and esthetician, saw that Kenny had popped the question a few weeks ago, she jumped at the chance to help.

“I want to volunteer to do your wedding makeup for free,” Ashley wrote to Ellen on Facebook.

Ashley, a mother and owner of Snatched Beauty Bar, asked Ellen if she could reach out to wedding vendors to make her dream wedding a reality.

Ellen, who has lots of medical expenses and is fatigued from treatments, was on board.

The response has been wonderful.

“I had so many people reach out to me wanting to donate services, I probably could have put ten weddings together,” Ashley said.

The 1620 Winery in Plymouth has donated a venue. Janelle Brillant of Cove Hair Salon in Scituate is styling a few wigs for Ellen. A dozen DJ’s offered their services as did wedding planners and photographers.

The owners of Modern Vintage Bridal in Sandwich donated Ellen’s wedding dress and flower girl dresses for her daughters. On Sunday, Ellen picked out her perfect wedding dress. “We’re moms and certain stories tug at your heart strings and this is definitely one of them,” said Kristen Jenkins, one of the boutique’s owners.

Ally Audette, a mother and nurse who once worked with Ellen, also wanted to help with her wedding costs. Ally is organizing a Dec. 7 fundraiser at the Fan Club in Wareham. A GoFundMe page has been set up under the name “ellens-dream-wedding.”

“It’s one of those things that just breaks your heart and you need to do something,” Ally said.

Ellen can’t wait to marry Kenny, a Navy veteran, on Dec. 21. Planning for their big day has been a welcome distraction from her cancer fight.

“I receive messages every day from people offering me stuff and I cry happy tears,” Ellen said. “It definitely makes me realize there’s still good people out there.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WuWeBr