My Best Friend's Wedding
Donation protected
Hello Everyone,
Our names are Joe & Michelle & we are on a mission to make our Best Friend Maries dream come true.
We have been friends with Marie for over 20 years. We spent our whole teenage years in the confines of my bedroom playing board games and singing along to the Spice girls (Me obviously being Posh, Marie being Ginger & well Michelle being forced into becoming Sporty-Even though she couldn't sing).
Marie has always been the life and soul of any party and continues to be so, to this day. Many of our memories are as a result of the mischief she got up too. On nights out she would disappear for hours on end, then we would find her chatting to some random people because she loves to make new friends.
At the age of 26 Marie became pregnant and was looking forward to the birth of her first child. During her pregnancy her body started to change and she found herself having achy bones and a bad chest. It was initially thought she had asthma and the achy bones were due to being pregnant. Sadly this was not the case and towards the end of her pregnancy Marie lost her baby boy. Following this devastating loss Marie was in hospital for over a month having numerous tests to establish what was wrong and she was subsequently diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis & Polymyositis.
Pulmonary Fibrosis is an incredibly rare lung condition that causes scarring of the lungs and Polymyositis is a condition which causes inflammation and degeneration of skeletal muscle throughout the body.
These conditions meant that Marie was unable to breathe unaided and had difficulty walking short distances. Despite this Marie remained positively upbeat and was determined to not let these conditions ruin her quality of life. She continued to play darts for her local team and went on nights out with the girls on a mobility scooter with an oxygen tank strapped to her back and always with a smile.
As a result of her condition Marie was placed on the transplant list. She had four false alarms but in March 2013 she had the lung transplant she desperately needed. Following the lung transplant Marie's quality of life improved immensly she was back to the mischievious girl we knew. During this time she met Sean and quickly fell head over heels in love. In April 2015 Sean proposed and they became engaged to be married.
In September of this year, at one of Marie's regular check ups at the hospital she was given the devastating news that her transplant had failed and that she would have to rely on an oxygen tank once again. A second transplant was discussed but due to her polymyositis she was told this was not an option because the transplant was likely to fail again. Marie is now surviving on one scarred lung which means her life expectancy is not what it should be and she is terminally ill. Despite this set back Marie still has a smile on her face, remains positively upbeat and is trying to be as active as possible within the limits of her condition.
Most people have years to save for a wedding but Marie does not have the luxury of time. So as her best friends Michelle and I would like to help Marie fulfill every girls dream to get married and have the fairytale wedding she so rightly deserves.
In order to make this a reality we would request that you donate any sum large or small that you can afford. The money we raise will be used to pay for the wedding and any surplus will be given to Marie and Sean towards a honeymoon or anything which will simply improve her quality of life.
We are hoping to plan and arrange the wedding for the beginning of next year so please help us make our wish for our best friend come true.
Thank you for taking the time to read Marie's story
Lots of Love
Joe & Michelle
Organizer
Joe Carl Parfitt
Organizer
