NEWS

Cancer patient's dying wish of marriage granted

Adam Rodewald
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Harley Thomas, 56, who has terminal cancer, married Lori Feeley, 56, in The Cancer Team at Bellin Health’s gardens on Thursday.

For the long seconds they embraced each other in the garden where they exchanged their vows, as his cheek nuzzled her neck and her eyes wet his shoulder, a world of meaning passed between them.

Harley Thomas watched his new wife Lori Feeley. He let his hands slide down her arms and held her gaze. Her white dress glistened around her bouquet of lilacs. Her blonde hair teased her shoulders.

In that moment Thomas received his dying wish.

Early in August Thomas learned his cancer couldn't be treated. He has three months left to live.

So he told his doctors he wanted nothing more than to marry the woman he loves.

More than eight times in as many years he had asked Feeley for her hand in marriage. She always said yes, but that's as far as it went. They were homeless more often then not, living out of a van or hotels. Every dollar they earned bought food and clothes for Feeley's two kids.

Thomas couldn't afford a marriage license much less a church or flowers.

The Cancer Team at Bellin Health gave him his wish Thursday evening. The wedding service took place in the quaint garden at the Team's facility on Comanche Avenue in Green Bay, where family, friends and medical staff gathered among the vines and pansys to witness the union. Area businesses donated everything, from Feeley's dress to the cake.

Thomas was diagnosed with cancer on Oct. 15. Today his treatments have ended. He has stage four cancer in his lungs and eight tumors in in head, he said.

"It's just a matter of time before I pass on. I just wanted to be married to Lori. That was one of my goals in life," he said. "I didn't know how to go about it. I didn't know what I was going to do to have them taken care of."

"They (Bellin staff) heard my cry. They made it happen for me. I felt kind of numb. I was in shock," he said.

For Feeley, "it's a storybook wedding."

Struggle

Thomas and Feeley, both 56 years old, met close to nine years ago when they lived in the same apartment building in Gillett.

Thomas immediately found her attractive. She's petite with shining blue eyes. Feeley loved his caring heart. Their friendship quickly blossomed.

But the next several years were a roller coaster ride of poverty. Jobs came and went as illness, injury and other hardships fell on them. They have received help from the Donald Driver Foundation and Highland Crest Baptist Church. But four years ago Thomas fell off a ladder while working for a roofer and shattered his foot. His leg never fully recovered, making it nearly impossible to find work.

"It rendered us homeless," Thomas said.

The couple had both just found jobs again last October when Thomas got sick. He had become increasingly dizzy and his vision wavered. His symptoms became so severe he crashed his bike into the doors of the emergency room when he went for help, he said.

Doctors told him that without treatment he would have died in days, he said.

Thomas lost his job again. Feeley also lost her job because she missed too many days of work while taking care of Thomas.

"It's been a struggle. A long hard struggle for both of us," Thomas said.

Marriage

It's common for Bellin's Cancer Team to help patients achieve a life goal. It's not common for them to go as far as they did for Thomas, team leader Peg Savoie said.

"I think there was a special connection with him," Savoie said. "He's invited us to participate in a such a personal event with him. That is a huge compliment to this team."

The Bellin staff reached out to area businesses that donated everything for the wedding. Feeley wore a donated gown and shoes. He had a full suit. a Bellin minister led the ceremony. A woman played music on her harp. The couple even received a place to stay for their wedding night.

Thomas said he can't help but feel blessed despite all his struggles in life.

"I'm rich in my heart, and I'm happy because the Lord is there for us. That makes things right for me," he said.

—arodewal@pressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @AdamGRodewald.