Yahoo News Bride Says It Was a 'Dream Come True' to Walk Down the Aisle with Her Doctor After Surgery
Nicole Smiley Stargel
Newlywed Jessica Davis had an extra special reason to celebrate at her April 2022 wedding.
After Davis, 27, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that required surgery as a freshman in college, she met neurosurgeon Dr. Alex Yu, who is vice-chair of neurosurgery for Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh.
Over the following eight years as he cared for her, the pair formed a close friendship. As a result, Davis — whose father died of ALS in 2009 when she was in eighth grade — asked Yu to walk her down the aisle at her April 2022 nuptials.
"This is an honor of a lifetime to be able to do this for someone and to have someone who does value you," Yu told Today on Thursday. "It reminds you that there's obviously a purpose to life ... And my purpose was to take care of her and walk her down the aisle."
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Nicole Smiley Stargel Jessica Davis wedding
Davis's path to meeting Yu began when she went to an eye doctor, who noticed that her optic nerve looked enlarged and recommended she visit an eye specialist, who then ordered an MRI. When the scan came back and revealed a grade two meningioma, a noncancerous brain tumor that forms in the brain or spine, according to Today, Davis knew her life was going to change.
Working with Yu to come up with a treatment plan, Davis appreciated his calm demeanor and the aid he provided amid her worries, Today reported. "He was very confident," she told the outlet. "[He made me feel] it was going to feel all right."
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Nicole Smiley Stargel Jessica Davis wedding
Following surgery, and a few complications that occurred afterward, Davis traveled to Pittsburgh to see Yu every six months for an MRI to make sure her tumor hadn't returned. During their time together, Davis told Today that she would jokingly ask Yu if he would walk her down the aisle if she ever got married.
"He would probably say that I would never get married. Pretty much anybody would tell you that because I am very independent," she said. "I'd be like, 'If I ever do get married would you want to walk me down the aisle,' and he said, "Of course.'"
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Courtesy Jessica Davis Jessica Davis wedding
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When the time came for Davis to start wedding planning with her now-husband, Robbie Davis, she wasn't sure if her former doctor would remember the offer.
"He probably forgot about it. This was like six years down the road. I was like, 'How do I ask him? Do I want to ask him? I feel like I would be embarrassed like what if he says no,'" Davis said. "Then I asked, and he goes, 'Oh my gosh, I thought you forgot about it.'"
Davis told Today that Yu was "happy" to be asked and "it was cool because he remembered." She noted: "It was a dream come true."
"I've never walked anyone down the aisle," Yu added. "It was one of those moments where you feel the range of emotions. You feel grateful. You feel love and then at one point I was like, 'All right, we can't fall. We've got to get down the aisle.'"
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Davis told Today that she shared her story with hopes that it will encourage people "to never give up hope."
"If you keep focusing on the past, you're never going to be happy," she said. "It's always going to be a part of you. But it's hard to be happy if you just focus on the negativity."
