Southeast Michigan woman has early wedding for father sick with cancer

Woman wanted father to walk her down the aisle on big day

DETROIT – A wedding day is often one of the happiest days of your life, but for one southeast Michigan bride her wedding was full of happiness and also some heartache.

Instead of taking months to plan the perfect ceremony and reception, she did it all at lightning speed -- all so that her father, who is dying, could give her away.

It's something many girls dream of: Getting married and having their father walk them down the aisle.

"I wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle and be here and, you know, have the family see him and all that," said Victoria Root. "So it was important for him to be there."

Important because Root's father, Tom, has brain cancer. Several rounds of treatment didn't work and doctors gave him only eight to 12 weeks to live.

"We were going to start planning his funeral because we decided we didn't want Tori to have to do that when the time comes," said Root's mother, Donna Roy-Molitor. "She turned to her dad and said, 'I'm getting married now.'"

That conversation was in January, and nearly every waking hour since then Root's mom has been planning for this day. The couple told their story on Detroit radio show "Mojo in the Morning" and people jumped to help.

Tori's boss even picked up the tab for the reception.

"It's really great. It just shows there are really good people out there that care," said Root. "It went better than I thought it was going to. I thought I was going to be crying."


About the Author:

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.