The parents of a boy with an incurable brain tumour had a third wedding ring designed for their son so all three of them could “get married” when the couple renewed their vows.
Yavanna and Lar Keogh, from Dublin, are parents to Oscar, who celebrated his fourth birthday on Sunday 24 June. But as the couple anticipate it could be Oscar’s last birthday, they decided to make it extra special and get hitched again.
“We renewed our vows, but wanted Oscar to marry us too,” said the 34-year-old mother, who has been with Lar for 15 years. “It was absolutely beautiful.”
Oscar was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour when he was three and a half years old. Yavanna says there were subtle signs something was wrong in the lead up to his diagnosis - as he seemed very anxious and began vomiting spit.
After numerous trips to the doctor and multiple tests, Oscar was diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), which had grown on his brainstem.
“It is incredibly rare and somehow it had found Oscar,” Yavanna says. “For us, keeping busy and planning the next adventure is how you keep getting up every morning and so we wanted to make his birthday incredibly special.”
Oscar’s story received international attention after his mum tweeted on 1 June, asking strangers to send her son birthday cards.
Within a matter of hours of Yavanna’s tweet, people had already begun writing and sending cards to her son. Even Oscar’s favourite TV presenter, Richard Osman from Pointless, sent a message to the family.