Advertisement

Teen Bride Marries High School Sweatheart At His Bedside Days Before He Dies Of Leukaemia

Omar Al Shaikh and Amie Cresswell, both 16, tied the knot at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham just three days before the battling teen passed away

Amie and Omar on their special day before he lost his leukaemia battle. (Caters)
Amie and Omar on their special day before he lost his leukaemia battle. (Caters)


A teenage girl married her high school sweetheart in a heart-breaking hospital ceremony just days before he died of leukaemia.

Omar Al Shaikh and Amie Cresswell, both 16, tied the knot at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham just three days before the battling teen passed away.

Over 20 friends and relatives watched on as he held his new bride - who wore her pink prom dress - in his arms during the Islamic service.

Omar lost his battle with leukaemia with his mother Mirabela, 39, and Amie holding his hands at 7.05pm on Monday.

Amie and Omar in their hospital ceremony. (Caters)
Amie and Omar in their hospital ceremony. (Caters)


The teenager proposed to his girlfriend, who he met at secondary school, just hours after discovering that he had just days to live on June 14.

Omar made a ring out of a flower and even struggled to get out of his wheelchair onto one knee as he placed it on Amie's finger during a walk in the hospital grounds.

The pair were given permission to wed by the parents and Amie spent every night by Omar's bedside until he passed away.

Nurses even pulled up a second bed to make a double-sized bed for Amie and Mirabela to sleep with the teenager on their wedding night.

Single mum-of-two Mirabela, who lives in Brierley Hill, West Mids, said her son 'wanted the whole world to see him marry Amie'.

She added: 'They loved each other very much. I have lost Omar but I have gained the best daughter-in-law in the world.

'They were in school together and when Omar was first sick and diagnosed in June last year she was a good friend and always visited.


'He was cleared at the end of October and came home and we had a party for his 16th birthday and that was the day when they fell in love.

'Then he was diagnosed again in March and she used to stay over at the hospital with him every weekend.

'The minute she found out he only had days left to live she went to his bedside and stayed there every night.

'Omar's intention was to marry her in the future because he loved her so I supported him when he proposed.

Omar Al Shaikh in hospital, days before he passed away. (SWNS)
Omar Al Shaikh in hospital, days before he passed away. (SWNS)


'There was lots of tears and he was in the wheelchair but he event tried to get on his knee, it was beautiful.'

Yesterday Amie, who has changed her Facebook profile to her married name, said: 'It was a special moment. I will never forget Omar. He was everything to me.'

Former Air Cadet Omar was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia after fainting during a football match in June last year.

He was told he had just three months to find a suitable stem cell donor in March this year but struggled because of his mixed Arabic and Romanian heritage.

Amie with a picture of her late husband Omar. (Caters)
Amie with a picture of her late husband Omar. (Caters)


But tragically, by the time stem cells could be found, thanks to an umbilical cord transfer, Omar was too ill to have the transplant.

After his last round of chemotherapy, doctors said the treatment had been unsuccessful, and the cancer had gone into his bone marrow.

Over 50 family members and friends attended his funeral at Brierley Hill Crematorium near the family home on Tuesday.

Friends and family of Omar are urging people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan Register to save others going through the same heartbreak.