Teen with terminal cancer to marry high school sweetheart
Dustin Snyder is set to marry Sierra Siverio on Sunday
-- Dustin Snyder, who has terminal cancer, is set to have his dying wish come true this weekend.
The 19-year-old, who is in a hospice with a pain pump connected to his heart, will marry his high school sweetheart, Sierra Siverio.
"I'm blessed that he has her and that all the time that he's gone through, she's literally been by his side the whole time," Cassandra Fondahn tells ABC News. "That's a lot for a 19-year-old girl."
Snyder has been battling synovial sarcoma since being diagnosed a day before his 18th birthday. After surgery to remove the affected lung and chemotherapy, doctors reported the cancer was gone. Three weeks ago, Dustin was rushed to the hospital when he started experiencing abdominal pain.
His cancer had returned, taking over his stomach and pelvic area.
But now Snyder can look forward a wedding.
He has been with Siverio for a little over two years but the two have known each other since they were young. They had dated in middle school but had lost touch until Siverio walked into the Steak and Shake that Snyder was working in.
The two have been inseparable ever since.
Fondahn says the plan to have the wedding came about on Monday with Dustin's sister Brittany Hails setting up a Go Fund Me page to pay for the wedding. The page has received more than $14,098 as of Friday evening, but a wedding dress, tuxedo, photographer and even the venue, The Big Red Barn, have also been donated to the couple.
Hails tells ABC News that she and her sisters have helped all they could for the wedding but for the community to come together with this is a blessing.
On Friday, Hails said in a statement that she was "overwhelmed by the love and support by the community."
"We have made our goal for the wedding but any extra will be going for the cost for when the day comes for Dustin to be at rest," Hails said. "I love and appreciate everyone so much."
LifePath Hospice is also donating the flowers and bridesmaid dresses for the wedding.
The couple will be married this Sunday at The Big Red Barn surrounded by friends and family.