'Like a Hallmark Love Story': HS Senior with Months Left To Live Marries Girlfriend
Chase Smith started his battle with cancer in 2014. Diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma at 12 years old, Chase staved off several rounds in 2016 and 2019.
But in March, the 18-year-old received heartbreaking news: the tumors had returned, growing on his lung, his back and his hip. In April, he learned they’d reached the lining of his brain.
A GoFundMe was set up for Chase to help out with the many costs associated with his cancer treatment. Nearly $100,000 has been raised to help this young man so far.
“If you’ve had the privilege of watching Chase swim, you have seen the drive and competitiveness that burns in his soul,” the page reads.
“If you’ve had the privilege of knowing Chase in person, you have seen the kindness and goodness, the loyalty and righteousness that exudes from his spirit. His faith is strong, his fight is strong and he has the support and love of a small community with a BIG heart!”
In April he was given just three to five months to live. With that in mind, there was one incredibly important thing he knew he needed to do.
Chase and his girlfriend Sadie Mills, 18, had made big plans for their post-college life that included getting married. With their timeline sped up, friends and family helped them arrange a wedding ceremony in just four days in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Their parents were completely on board, and Chase’s father is the one who initially brought up the possibility.
“He said, ‘I can tell in your demeanor that you’re going to marry Sadie one day,'” Chase told USA Today, recounting his father’s words. “‘I want you to know if that’s going through your mind right now, your mom and I support you 110 percent.”
The families met to discuss the wedding. Even though Chase and Sadie had only been dating around six months and were in high school, their love was real, and the families recognized that.
“I told them how much Sadie had changed my life and how much I loved her, how special she had been to me, the simple fact that there is nobody I’ve been able to open up about my personal life and cancer journey like I’m able to with her,” Chase explained. “She is able to calm me down in a lot of scenarios when nobody else can.”
“He was so sweet,” Sadie said of Chase. “He’s very polite. He’s a good Christian boy. We just fell in love with each other’s personalities. Now, he is all that matters to me.”
The wedding was a simple, lovely ceremony with their closest friends and family gathered. They held hands at the end of Sadie’s parents’ driveway where they’d had their first kiss months before.
“This is like a Hallmark love story,” Chase’s mom, Kelli Smith, said. “A Nicholas Sparks love story. You just don’t see love like this.”
“To all of our friends and family that we couldn’t have at the wedding given the trying times we are living in, attached is the YouTube link to the video from Chase and Sadie’s wedding,” Jeff Mills, Sadie’s father, posted on May 9. “The videographer did an absolutely amazing job of catching every aspect of this special day.”
“It’s 15 minutes long, but definitely worth watching all the way to the end when they walk away to be escorted from the reception. We are so happy and blessed to have Chase and the entire Smith family in our lives. God is Great!”
God is definitely a major theme in the families’ lives, as well as in Chase and Sadie’s new life together.
“We, every day, pray for a miracle together because we trust in God,” Sadie said. “We pray that Chase would stay on this earth longer so we can bring more people our story of love.”
“The precious people in your life, the amount of time they are in your life, take every moment you have,” Chase said. “Enjoy and give everything you can in those relationships. And know there is so much possible with love when your love includes God.”
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