Community Corner
Terminally Ill Woman Gets Her Dying Wish – to Say ‘I Do’
"My future looks short," Jennifer Hutcheson – now Mrs. Allen Korth – said. "... The fact that I have true love makes my short future so much easier to bear."
When she dies – and Jennifer Marie Hutcheson, 30, expects it to be soon – it will be as Mrs. Allen Korth.
The terminally ill Flint woman married her longtime fiancé, Allen Korth, also of Flint, at a private residence in Fenton Sunday. The ceremony was arranged by the Michigan Chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding, a nonprofit established in California in 2010 to provide last wishes to couples.
Jennifer was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2009, and it’s now spread to her entire body. “My future looks short,” she said, according to a news release, “but I want to spend the time I have left as Jennifer Marie Korth, wife of Allen Carl Korth. The fact that I have true love makes my short future so much easier to bear.”
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Jennifer was weak and only made a brief appearance before friends and relatives who gathered to see the couple, who have been together for nine years, exchange vows, MLive/The Flint Journal reports.
"In truth you guys are living these vows as a couple every day and you have been nine years of love and devotion and a true friendship and just a genuine affection for each other," officiant Leslie Toldo said.
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"Your forever surpasses time and it will endure infinitely and not just for you, but for all those people whose lives you've inspired with your love and your happiness Jennifer.”
Allen has been at her side throughout the ordeal, which included seven rounds of chemotherapy, three rounds of radiation and surgery. She not only lost hair, but also weight that left her a wisp-thin 88 pounds.
The couple said they would have married sooner, but Jennifer would have lost her health insurance. When she entered hospice care two months ago, they decided to marry, The State reports. "There's something about changing your last name to the person you love,” Jennifer siad. It's just important to me that I get to do that.”
The wedding was donated by wedding vendors, called “wish granters.” The bride wore a traditional white gown and veil, and the wedding featured a color scheme of hot pink, black and gray. Guests received bottles of Michigan-made Faygo soda as favors
The wedding was the third in Michigan since the Wish Upon a Wedding Chapter opened in 2011.
“I do know that they are extremely happy. This is what they wanted, this is what she wanted. She wanted to be married," said Laura Allis, the president of Wish Upon a Wedding’s Michigan chapter. "I know this brings some peace to her and just to know that she's actually Mrs. Allen Korth is a great thing to her."Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
