Like most dads, Andy Barnard dreamed of walking his daughter down the aisle. And as she's his only girl, it's especially important to him.
Tragically that day will never come - 16-month-old Poppy-Mai was diagnosed with a rare and fatal brain tumour and given just TWO days to live.
So Andy’s RAF colleagues hastily arranged a wedding day for Poppy-Mai and the beautiful little bride ‘married’ her father.
Poppy-Mai was escorted to the aisle by her mum Sammi Barnard and brothers Rylee, six and Jenson–Jay, four.
Andy, who serves with the RAF, said: "From the moment we found out Poppy-Mae was a girl I’ve said she’d have the wedding of her dreams one day. I never ever thought it would be like this."
On February 14th, mum Sammi took Poppy-Mai to the doctors. Normally playful, the toddler had gone off her food and drink. She was also constipated with a distended tummy, and Sammi had also noticed she seemed off-balance.
Their GP put the little girl’s symptoms down to teething and prescribed a laxative. She grew worse and Sammi noticed a lump appear under her rib cage. Poppy-Mai later refused all food and drink and couldn’t walk, Sammi took her back to the GP ten days later.
A different doctor prescribed a stronger laxative. But the following afternoon on February 25th Sammi was so concerned she drove her daughter to A&E.
The toddler, who had now started vomiting, was immediately admitted as doctors battled to stabilise her.
Sammi said: "Her calcium levels were way too high and they had to address that first before they could start to work out what was wrong. At the worst I thought she maybe had a really bad infection."
Sammi’s dad, who was serving with his squadron in America at the time, was kept informed over the phone. Only later that day an ultrasound revealed what looked like a mass in her stomach.
Sammi said: "The consultant sat me down and said: ‘You know this is much worse than constipation now don’t you. I did. But when he said they suspected cancer I was shocked."
The concerned mum was told that they suspected her daughter had Wilms – a type of kidney cancer in children.
She had to break the news to her husband over the phone and bosses arranged for him to be flown back to the UK to be with his daughter.
She was thrilled to see her daddy again but there was bad news when a CT scan revealed the mass on her kidney had started to spread and cancer cells were detected in the Poppy-Mai’s lungs.
Sammi said: ‘"At that point we knew we had a battle on our hands but we had hope and vowed to do anything we could to save her."
But just one week on the cells had already grown into masses.
Doctors now diagnosed a malignant rhabdoid tumour in her kidneys and lungs – a very rare but aggressive type of cancer.
Her parents were warned that her chances of survival were slim. Sammi said: "Even then we still had hope and. If there was a chance she might survive we had to believe in that chance."
She started chemotherapy and appeared to respond well. But on March 16th cancer was found in her brain. The size and position of the tumour above her right eye meant it was inoperable.
Sammi said: "I was stunned. I couldn’t believe we had been in hospital for four weeks and it had only just been found."
But treatment could prolong her life by a few weeks at most and would come at a cost.
Sammi said: "When they said it meant more chemo with painful side effects I told them no. I couldn’t put her through that."
When the parents told staff they wanted to take their girl home to enjoy the time she had left pain-free, they were commended for their bravery.
But as Sammy said, "We didn’t feel brave, we felt utterly broken. But we felt sure we were doing the right thing."
"I already resented that I had already spent four weeks in hospital with Poppy-Mai putting her through treatment that could have never made any different to her condition."
"If I had known about the brain tumour earlier I would have taken her home straight away. We had already been robbed of too much precious wasted time in hospital when she could have been with her family."
Sammi and Andy sat their sons down to explain that Poppy-Mai was coming home to spend time with them before she had to "go to heaven and become a star."
They returned to their home in Thetford the following morning and the next day on March 18th, Andy’s colleagues arranged for the wedding ceremony to take place.
They dressed a function room with ribbons and balloons and Poppy-Mai made her grand entrance in her cousin’s christening gown. Sammi said: "I couldn’t stop crying. Being our only daughter, we’d often talk about one day watching her get married."
"She looked so beautiful. But nobody could say the vows that had been written because everyone was crying too much."
Poppy-Mai managed to stay awake for the ceremony and then fell asleep in her proud father’s arms.
Every day since has been a blessing and the family are enjoying every precious minute they have left with their precious little girl.
"My wish is for greater awareness in Poppy-Mai’s name. I gave birth to an angel and soon she will become one. The pain is indescribable but in talking about this other parents might be spared from losing a child."
