9-year-old Jayla Cooper and 7-year-old Jose Griggs were married at Paradise Cove, on the shore of Lake Grapevine in north Texas.
Jayla, who has been battling leukemia for two years, has been given weeks to live. The wedding was the young girl’s dying wish.
The unlikely bride and groom met at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas two years ago and quickly formed a strong bond.
“He knows what’s going on,” said Charla Griggs, Jose’s mother. “He understands that she is going to a better place.”
The young boy’s parents said Jayla helped their son with his own battle with the illness.
“He’s brighter, happier and more content with all that they go through in the hospital,” said Lawrence Griggs, Jose’s father. “She changed that, brought it all out and opened up a side of him I hadn’t seen.”
The wedding was a celebration of life and friendship.
A fund has been set up in Jayla Cooper’s name at the Grace Community Health Clinic, which can be reached at 817-305-4650 or visit www.gracegrapevine.org.
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photo: WFAA-TV