Neighbours, strangers rally behind ovarian cancer sufferer to plan her wedding
/ By Kenji Sato and Kate O'TooleWhen Carla Jones told a neighbour she was getting married they asked her why she bothered when she could soon be dead.
"I said, 'Look, I need to have something to look forward to because otherwise all I have to look forward to is cancer and eventually dying'," Ms Jones said.
In September the Kobble Creek resident learned she had late-stage ovarian cancer, giving her about a thirty per cent chance of being alive in five years.
After much debate her boyfriend Michael Walsh persuaded her to get married.
So they set a date for October 20, 2023, five weeks later.
Ms Jones asked to borrow some plastic chairs from a neighbour down the road, Ellena Stone, who ran a "Buy Nothing" community Facebook page.
Ms Stone had never met Ms Jones before, but when she heard her story she put the call out on social media for free wedding supplies.
"I thought, this won't do, you're not going to have some plastic chairs," Ms Stone said.
"Within ten minutes we had a photographer, a cake, cookie favours, lighting, plates, cutlery, you name it.
"It was unbelievable — these were strangers who didn't know any of us."
Restoring faith in humanity
Volunteers came forward from Dayboro and all over Greater Brisbane, including a photographer who drove all the way from Toowoomba to take snaps.
Neighbours and perfect strangers came to the wedding, which was held at Ms Jones's home.
Mr Walsh said the whole affair had restored his faith in humanity.
"The people in our street opened up their hearts, they basically accommodated all our relatives in their spare bedrooms, Airbnbs, tiny homes," Mr Walsh said.
"Day to day you hear about the bad things — youth crime, et cetera — and something like this happens to you, and suddenly everyone jumps in and helps."
After the wedding, Ms Jones went in for a round of chemotherapy which left her weak and nauseous.
Memories carry her through chemo
However, even during the "horrible" recovery period, she was able to take some comfort in the memories from her wedding day.
"Now on a daily basis I'm looking at the photos and looking back to how wonderful it was on that day," she said.
"The gratitude that Michael and I feel for the people who did what they did, we can't put it into words.
"The whole day was just magical — I couldn't have asked for a better day."