Days after an appeal to help a terminally ill mother from Co Tyrone get married, her young family can now look forward to their big day next month.
Danielle Donnelly (35), a mother-of-five from Drumquin, was diagnosed with terminal cancer last July just weeks after giving birth to her youngest child.
Facing the exhausting side-effects of chemotherapy and a busy family life, Ms Donnelly and her fiancé Darren Collins started a wedding fundraiser last year.
Although raising all the money required, the couple still needed help finding some of the final elements like cars, flowers, suits and a videographer.
An appeal on the My Omagh page quickly saw hundreds of people replying, including many businesses offering their services for free.
Giving an update to The Irish News, Ms Donnelly’s mother Donna Logue thanked the Omagh community and said the only thing left to confirm was the music.
“Donna hadn’t been very well after chemotherapy last week, but thankfully she’s feeling a little bit better,” she said.
“I think nearly everything is sorted now. We have no more worries about it and hopefully Donna’s health allows her to enjoy the day.
“Hopefully she can just relax a bit now and just enjoy all the preparations, it’s been a hectic week for her.”
She continued: “It will be just lovely for the children. It gives everybody something to look forward to, especially the kids.
“It’s nice for her to know this is coming up and they’ll have those memories. They haven’t been able to get away, because she just hasn’t been well enough.
“With the wedding, they’re now all going to be together and it’s given them all something to focus on and have as happy a day as we can.”
Last week, Ms Donnelly told The Irish News she had been overwhelmed by the community response.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we can’t thank everyone enough,” she said.
“ As you can only imagine, I’m only 35 and having a young family, our hearts are broken in a million pieces that I will not see my children grow up.”
“Darren is only a year older than me as well so you can imagine the heartbreak we are going through.”
Among the many offers of help for the family, one woman offered the loan of her wedding dress while many others offered to make cakes, provide photography, suit alterations and decorations.
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