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High school sweethearts marry following groom’s terminal cancer diagnosis

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  • Isabella Cristobal and Sergio Soto became high school sweethearts when they were just 15.
  • Even as Sergio received a preleukemia diagnosis, Isabella stood by him through the years.
  • When Sergio recently received a terminal cancer diagnosis, the couple decided to seize the day and tie the knot.

High school sweethearts Isabella Cristobal and Sergio Soto decided to seize the day and tie the knot after Sergio received a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Isabella and Sergio were just 15 years old when they first met at a friend’s quinceañera. They were attending the same high school in San Francisco. It was at that young age that Sergio was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of preleukemia.

The syndrome is described by the National Cancer Institute as “a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature or become healthy blood cells.”

Still, Isabella did not see Sergio as “a sick person.” She continued to stand by him through everything.

“I saw a very positive and confident man that kept moving forward despite the pains, despite the cancer,” Isabella told Good Morning America. “He changed my perspective on life.”

After several relapses, chemotherapy treatments, and bone marrow transplants through the years, Sergio was given a terminal diagnosis in August.

Isabella said that they already felt like a married couple, but she wanted to make it official. She wanted a wedding to celebrate their love and life together, with friends and family as their witnesses.

So, on September 7, the couple, now both 20, exchanged their vows in an intimate and emotional ceremony.

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Sergio said, “I love you so much and I hope we can spend our life together for as long as we can.”

Isabella said that they have still been able to go on dates and do things they had always wanted to do, with the help of the nonprofit Family House at Mission Bay.

She hopes that people with life-threatening illnesses see their life together and believe that “Just because you have a life-threatening illness doesn’t mean you can’t do the things you want.”

They have continued to share their life together on social media to help remind others to just take things one day at a time.

Isabella said, “We hope that people who are going through the same or similar situation see our story and get the reassurance and hope they need. That they’re not alone.”

You can follow the couple’s story on Instagram.

Source: Good Morning America

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