ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Officials say a 23-year-old Florida woman who married her boyfriend in a hospital ceremony last month as she battled leukemia has died.
Orlando Health spokeswoman Katie Dagenais told the Orlando Sentinel (http://goo.gl/QAylWS ) that Melanie Aybar died Tuesday.
Aybar had been battling acute myeloid leukemia for two years. She had a blood transfusion the night before the wedding, hoping it would give her enough energy. Aybar had planned to go back to hospice, but changed her mind after the wedding. She had been taking antibiotics again and wanted to participate in another clinical trial.
Aybar had been dating her new husband, 24-year-old Michael Sanchez, since high school. They were married Dec. 19, four days after he proposed. Hospital staff volunteered to help plan the wedding, finding a cake and getting a florist to donate flowers.
___
Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
